Recipe: Black Bean Meatballs

Time: 30 minutes to prep; 15 minutes to cook

Ingredients (meatballs)

• 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium jalapeno chili, chopped
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger root
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups cooked kasha, cracked wheat, or couscous
• 2 cups cucumber yogurt

Ingredients (cucumber yogurt)

• 1 1/3 cup fat-free yogurt
• 1 1/3 cup finely chopped and seeded cucumber
• 2 teaspoons dried dill weed

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Process beans, jalapeno chili, ginger root, cilantro, coconut and curry powder in food processor until smooth. Season to taste.
3. Shape mixture into about 20-30 meatballs and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
4. While that’s baking, combine ingredients for cucumber yogurt in small bowl.
5. When meatballs are cooked, serve over kasha, cracked wheat or couscous. Spoon cucumber yogurt over.

Verdict

Let’s be real: the meatballs look like little turds. It was a different recipe that I thought I could give a try. Visually, it’s not appetizing. Taste-wise, however, it’s not so bad. It actually tastes better reheated. I didn’t have ginger root or coconut flakes, so I used dried ginger and skipped the coconut. I also misread the instructions and only used two tablespoons of cilantro.

The cucumber yogurt serves a couple of purposes. First, the spice from the jalapeno can be overwhelming, but that’s countered by the cool of the cucumber yogurt. Also, the meatballs look awful, so the yogurt dresses up the dish. Plus, I added the roasted Brussels sprouts for my veggies on the plate. It still came out very well. Anywho, I do recommend it, at least to try something new.

Courtesy of 1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes (fourth edition)

Tags: black bean meatballs, black beans, spicy