Hard not to ogle a good stack of yummy goodness… this is not just eye-candy, but satisfying for your whole body.  What’s even better? … the fact that this plant-based patty is chock full of fiber from juicing, thereby cutting down food waste and amping up texture and good-for-your-gut goodness!

Prepare to get your hands messy in the making of this and while you’re eating it, especially if you stack it with the homemade hummus, pickles, and avocado top and bottom as the bun… in fact, get your fork and spoon ready, too!

Here we go…

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 cup of veggie pulp (usually carrot, celery, some beets, little garlic and other greens)
• 3/4 cup mushrooms (sauteed after food processing into a chunky, coarse paste)
• 1/2 cup cooked sprouted brown or black rice
• (or 3/4 cup cooked beans (black, pinto, white, or mung beans are fantastic!)
• 1/4 cup finely diced onions (prefer it raw for texture, but sautee, if you prefer)
• flax egg (2 Tablespoons ground flax mixed in 5 Tablespoons water)
• 2 Tablespoon coarsely pureed sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon of cumin, dried harissa seasonings or paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• coconut aminos…added just a dash, but it’s optional
• ripe, but not too ripe large avocado to cut in half and use as buns 🙂

WHAT TO DO:

After juicing, get your pulp and set in large mixing bowl and get your hopefully, already cooked rice or cook some to use in this and have for later!  If you’re using beans instead, be sure those are ready…soft and mushably mixable as it will be a good binding agent for the patty. (I like how that sounds–mushably mixable. hee hee)

Food process your choice of mushrooms until it becomes like a thick, coarse, but mushy paste and then sautee in olive oil or some veggie broth.

Prepare your flax egg by mixing 2 Tablespoons of ground flax into 5 Tablespoons of water.  It should sit for at least 20 minutes before using.  Be sure to stir it several times to make it an even consistency.

Finely dice 1/2 cup of sweet onion.

Put mushrooms, rice or beans, veggie pulp, pureed sun-dried tomatoes, flax egg, onions, and all the seasonings into the big mixing bowl.  Mix it up, form into balls and slightly flatten by hand into the patty shape you like.

Place on baking rack for a good 45 minutes for 375 degrees until it’s lightly browned on the outside.  Please flip halfway through.  Stack it up and gently stuff your face 🙂 .  (If you pan-fry these, let me know how it turns out! And be sure to freeze some for a healthy meal later!)

Plant-based people unite!  LOL… I’m not a cuckoo about recruiting everyone to vegan dining, but what a true delight it has been to discover all the delicious ways to prepare the gifts that grow out of our soil…the dirt that don’t hurt, that is.  I’m talking about living, breathing healthy soil that is nutrient-rich enough to pass along those gifts to us who want to take it all in.  So, that’s why I go for local, sustainably sourced food from farmers I trust or shop organic in the grocery stores and do my best to fill my plate with whole foods I recognize or ones with simple ingredients. It’s how I and each one of us can be kinder to our planet and ourselves!  …while dining deliciously, too!

So, how ’bout some NO MEAT-BALLS?!  It was worth a try and I will do this again 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup veggie pulp (this round had carrot, celery, some beet greens and parsley)
• 2 cups chopped mushroom of choice, finely chopped
• 1/2 onion finely diced
• 1/2 cup oats or Gluten-Free bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 Tablespoon white miso paste
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 Tablespoon oregano
• 1 flax egg with 3 Tablespoons of ground flax in 5 Tablespoons of water
• 1 Tablespoon of cold-pressed olive oil
• dash of coconut aminos
• salt and pepper to taste… and other seasonings, too!

WHAT TO DO:

1. Chop mushrooms and saute them in olive oil or water, if you prefer.
2. Process oats, if you are using them in a food processor until finer in texture, like crumbs… or just use GF bread crumbs of your preference (watch out for sugar that is often added to store-bought ones.)
3. Finely dice the onion, chop your parsley super fine, mince the garlic.
4. Mix up all the ingredients listed above and let cool down in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.  Roll into balls by hand–I first used a big food scoop so they would be uniform.
5. You can coat the outside with a bit of olive oil to help the browning be more even during baking.  Not necessary, but nice to do.  Bake at 415 degrees for about 30 minutes… taste test to check and then enjoy the rest!

Homemade red sauce will make this an excellent dish to make a joint meal with a meat-eater in the the family.  (Turkey meatballs with veggie pulp is the perfect pair!)

I put these NO MEAT-BALLS on a bed of zoodled sweet white potatoes and pea sprouts instead of regular noodles. It’s always nice to have living, sprouted foods on your plate for extra life in your food…and life!

Enjoy!