A lot of people believe that it is very hard to be a vegan or be creative when you cook vegan. It is actually very simple once you know where to look for ideas. I like to browse the web for recipes and put my own twist on them. There are always some ingredients we don't like so why not find an alternative that we know would work perfectly? I have found this recipe in a vegetarian cookbook that has been sitting in my kitchen for as long as I can remember. Obviously, I wanted to make it vegan so here is how I achieved to make these delicious "meatballs" and homemade chips.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tins of your chosen beans
- 1 tin of sweetcorn
- 1 onion chopped
- Handful of parsley chopped
- 2 small carrots or 1 big one chopped
- 1 head of garlic chopped
- Potatoes sliced (as much as you think you will need for your chips, I used 4 big ones)
- Salt & Pepper
- Coconut Oil
Start by preheating the oven to 200C, and then cut the potatoes into slices as they take the longest to bake. Once they are chopped up, rub lots of coconut oil on them and flavour it to your liking. Put it in the oven for about 40 mins. (Don't forget to leave some space for the other baking tray with the meatballs on them.)
When you have everything chopped up and the potatoes are in the oven, you need to put all the garlic, onions, carrots and parsley in a pan with a little bit of coconut oil. Fry and mix it for a bit, and when you see everything NEARLY cooked, add the sweetcorn. While they are frying, mash the beans in a bowl. By this time everything should be cooked in the pan and you can add them to the mashed beans. Mix together and wait for it to cool down because if you start shaping them while it's still hot, you might burn yourself.
Prepare a baking tray with some non-stick baking paper on it.
Wet your hands and starts shaping the balls. (Wet hands help to shape the balls easier.) Place them on the tray one by one and put the tray in the oven next to the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes.
Enjoy!
P.S.: The final product comes out very yummy but breaks easily. My mum said if you don't mind the vegetarian option, put an egg in the bean mixture so it will stick together easier.
I have taken images of the whole process so please scroll down to see them all!
Feel free to tag me in any images of your creations - if you decide to recreate this recipe! :-*
I also wanted to share a little trick I like to do when I peel garlic. I put it in a cocktail shaker and start shaking it like you were a cool bartender. The skin comes off very easily this way. See the images below for the progress and the result. :-)
IMAGES OF THE PROCESS
