vegan meaty meatballs

we had a snow day earlier this week. i was thrilled about the snow day, not the snow. i love having bee home for the day. i like having the schedule of school and the way that it shapes our week, but i really truly love having her around. actually, i have been thinking a lot about this recently, as i seem to be encountering more and more parents who complain about having their kids home for vacation, holidays and snow days. but that is a subject for another day.

meatballs!

i did a bunch of cooking for the week, during the snow day. i made a pot of mixed beans, rice and these meatballs that i had been dreaming up. i made this recipe up from what i scrounged in the cabinet and based on many other fake meat recipes that i have read. they came out pretty awesome. the texture was right on, not too tough (which gluten can be) but held together nicely. the flavor was good too and could be altered with different spices. i will definitely make these again.

vegan meatballs recipe

1 c. vital wheat gluten

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

1/2 c. textured vegetable protein (tvp)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. poultry spice

1 c. cold water

2 T oil

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 T liquid smoke

1 T minced fresh herbs (i used oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage)

get a steamer ready, but don't start it.

mix wet and dry ingredients together in separate bowls. combine wet into dry and mix. when it comes together as a dough, knead for a minute or so. too much kneading can make the tvp start to fall out of the dough. form dough into 1" balls and place them on a piece of foil in the steamer. start up the pot and steam the balls for about an hour.

you can fry them up now, or save them in the fridge until you're ready to eat them. you could probably throw them into a sauce, without frying, and that would be fine. but it's much better to crisp them up a bit first. 

makes a dozen (more or less)