This one’s for all my non-vegan friends out there. I am one of you. I am a non-vegan, sometimes on a plant-based diet, sometimes meat eater, full-time-all-over-the-place eater. It’s all very confusing and I digress. The real thing keeping me from committing to a full plant-based diet though, is dairy.
See, I’m a baker. A baker who’s obsessed with butter, and you can’t make a proper Swiss buttercream without egg whites. I’m all for a vegan dessert every once in a while, but so far in my human journey I’m trying my best to walk this tightrope between being a conscious individual and an imperfect one.
The other day I wanted to make some meatballs and long story short, I thought why not try a meatless meatball? oh the oxymoron… mushrooms were the first thing that came to mind and without hesitation I gave these a try. I did hesitate though over calling these “vegan meatballs”. By adding the meatballs part I’m instantly adding an expectation to the dish. People will expect it to taste like traditional meatballs, but these are not meatballs, these are mushroomballs and they’ll only taste like, well …mushrooms. But after making some research it quickly became clear to me that I should name these vegan mushroom meatballs, or whatever.
Having said that, these are so good!! They’re juicy and full of flavour, the only difference is the texture – they’re not as crispy as traditional meatballs, which it’s totally fine. They’re also incredibly easy to make. If you want to keep things simple, like moi, just put them in the oven, make a quick salad and voila, you’re done. Although I must say, if you’re reeaaaally hungry, these will only work as a side dish, unless you make double the amount. At least. Either that, or I’m a real hungry b****.
Ingredients
- 250g mushrooms
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp whole grain mustard, optional
- handful of parsley
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 slice toast, torn into pieces
- salt
- pepper
Directions
- Add mushrooms and walnuts into a food processor and blend until a course meal forms. Transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients into the food processor and blend until combined. Do not over blend.
- Roll the mixture into balls and place on a baking tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the tray half way. Serve.
