Pasta-less Spaghetti & Meat-less Meatballs-Don't knock it til you try it!

Today's post is one that even left my husband and I staring in shock at one another after the first bite.  Being the cleaner eaters that we are, we are use to a mostly vegetarian lifestyle, but this meatless meatball most definitely left us full and satisfied any meat cravings we each may of had.  I know there are a lot of skeptics out there who say to me all the time, "I can't give up meat" or "I don't know how you do that girl".  It's all about good substitutes and seasonings. It's about mind over matter. People are so naïve to think we "need" meat in our diets. We don't.  We can get all the different proteins we need from other animal protein sources or even a lot of plant based protein sources.  Actually, meat is extremely hard for our bodies to break down.  If you do your research, you will find that a single piece of meat can remain in your body for months before it will break down and pass it as waste (TMI? well, you need it. Quit eating so much meat!) 

Ok, enough lecturing and let's get to the recipe right? First I will say, that this meal will require some time.  I suggest maybe doing this one on a Saturday or Sunday where you have some time set aside to escape in your kitchen and just enjoy the cooking process.  Not only did I create a delicious, cleaner spaghetti & meatball for this meal, I also pickled my own zucchini and onion for a salad topper which also served as our dressing! Dressings are typically full of sugars, corn syrup and other mystery ingredients! So anytime that you can make something simple and homemade to serve as your dressing, I encourage it.  We also use salsa a lot as our dressing.. Anyway-photo then recipe!

I mean, seriously, does that not just look heavenly? Doesn't it look like a true plate of spaghetti and meatballs? Well, it's not! It's spaghetti squash and black bean meatballs! Yes indeed it is friends. Yes it is. And it's nothing short of delish. I seriously would put this against almost any plate of spaghetti and meatballs. *hint I said almost..yeah, I know how awesome the real deal is, but this is definitely a clean version of the meal and it will give you that fix without the guilt. So, there. My point is made.

This is going to be a bit longer than usual blogs because it requires more steps.

Ingredients for the "spaghetti":
1 medium size spaghetti squash will make a decent size portion for three people or maybe 2 adults and 2 kids.

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350.  With a small knife, puncture the squash all over the body to ensure that it will not burst under the conditions of the heat. Bake for 1 hour in a shallow dish.

Once you've baked her for an hour, remove from oven and let cool for a bit.  Once it's cooled, you are going to treat it like a pumpkin at first.  You will cut it in half, and scrape out the guts.  You can save these seeds and bake them up for a great and nutritious snack! Or you can discard them. Whichever. 
Anyhow, Once the guts are removed, grab a fork and a bowl.  Scape in long strokes the inside of the squash. It will shred out and look like spaghetti noodles(some of the shreds will be short, some long). Once you have scraped all you can out of the middle of this squash, you will boil the scrapings or "spaghetti" just as you would pasta. In salted boiling water, place the "spaghetti" and boil for about 8 minutes.
Once those are done, drain them and set aside unless you are ready to top them off.
Enough with the squash, on to the meatless meatball.

Ingredients for the beanballs-haha.
1 cup of black beans- made 5 rather large bean balls for me.  It will probably make 8 smaller balls.(strain and rinse)
1 egg
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella
1 tbsp. of garlic powder
1 tbsp. of onion powder
1 tsp. of dry oregano
1 tsp. of dry Italian seasoning
1/4 cup of oatmeal

1st I would make the breading for your beanballs in your food processor so you aren't having to wash it out over and over.  You will "bread" the outside of the beanball so a nice crust will form when you sear it.
1/4 cup or so of oats
1 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tsp. of onion powder
1 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of pepper
and if you want any herbs-dry basil, oregano... throw those in too.
You could also throw some parmesan cheese in this breading mixture(buy fresh on the rine and grate it, You will thank me)

Now, simply throw all of that in the food processor until well blended and the oats have ground down into a flour like consistency.  Dump onto a plate to roll the balls around in before searing. Done. Now you can use the same processor without washing to do the bean ball mixture.

For the bean balls: Just throw all ingredients I listed in the recipe in the processor and process until well blended. That's it. Then you will form them into balls and roll around in the "breading" mixture I listed above.  Put about 1-2 tbsp. of sunflower oil in your nonstick pan and sear each beanball on each side until brown and crispy!

Now, for the marinara, I made my own of course! Ha! I will repost it from the previous lasagna blog just for you :)

So here's my sauce recipe:
5 roma tomatoes
1 tbsp. of sunflower oil
1 tbsp. of dry oregano
1 tbsp. of dry basil
2 tbsp. of chopped garlic
1 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of onion
 
Peel and dice the tomatoes, put in a sauce pan. Add the garlic cloves, sliced onions, dry oregano, dry basil, or Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. I also throw in red pepper flakes for some spice. You can do whatever you like with this recipe actually. Add olives, capers, whatever!  Cook on low-medium for about 15-20 minutes. Once everything looks like its softened, just throw in your rinsed out food processor and blend together.  I used my handy emulsifier, but a processor will do the same trick.  Put back in the pan and cook another 5-10 minutes just to "marry" the ingredients. Done.



As I said in my intro, I paired our main dish with a side salad of spinach and homemade pickled zucchini and onions. It's so easy. Simply boil 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1 tbsp. of salt. Once boiling, add your vegetables of choice and remove from heat. I let my vegetables soak for about 5 hours in the fridge. But if you only have 20 minutes, they will still be delish!
 Now, what I did here was just throw the pickled vegetables onto the spinach and let the vinegar from the veggies be the "dressing". Trust me, it's very good.

 

 

 

That's it people.

 



 Serious goodness happened here.

It's very hard to even work with

this post because it's been

two nights since I made this

and it's sending me into withdrawal

mode. No kidding.  Look at that photo to the left. Look at the inside of that beanball.

It looks like a meatball!

And tastes just as good too! I swear by it.

 As you see, I did top our pasta-less spaghetti and meat-less meatballs off with some fresh chopped basil. I do recommend this. However fresh basil is usually $2. If you can't find a use for it within a week of purchase, don't spend the extra money. It'll be just as delish without it.  This dish is gluten free. Essentially fat free. Low Carb. High in protein. And very high in satisfaction.

 

Last note-as you see if you've read a lot of my blogs, I use a lot of the same ingredients. Black beans, garlic and onion powder, dry herbs, sunflower oil, onion, garlic... These are staples in our house. Beans are crazy good for you and very inexpensive. I always buy dry bags. I just prefer them.  I truly hope you give this recipe a shot. It does require a bit of work, but it's also about enjoying cooking so that you can really enjoy a good healthy meal at the end of the process. I will also like to add that Sophie loved the spaghetti squash. LOVED it. Was eating it right off of my cutting board actually. ha ha. Enjoy this one folks! We sure did!