Sweet & Sour Meatballs with Mushroom Rice
Sweet & Sour Meatballs with Mushroom Rice made of vegan black bean meatballs, drizzled with a sweet & sour sauce served on an oven-baked mushroom rice pilaf.
Ingredients
Mushroom Rice Pilaf
- 1 1/2 cups long grain rice , uncooked
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 650 grams (1.3 lb) mushrooms quartered
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1.5 Tbsp olive oil
Vegan Meatballs
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 can black bean (400 ml) drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 Tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup white onion chopped
- 2 Tbsp ground flax to bind the meatballs (must be ground)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 3 Tbsp slivered almonds optional to add texture
- extra virgin olive oil for cooking
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/4 cup vegan sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp ketchup
- 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1/2 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
Mushroom Rice Pilaf
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Add mushrooms to a large bowl. Pour over hot melted butter, add garlic, salt and pepper. Toss well.
- Place remaining ingredients in a large baking dish approximately 9 x 13".
- Mix to spread the rice out evenly in the pan.
- Spread the mushrooms over the rice to cover the whole surface area (keep them on the top of the rice, rather than mixing into the rice, as this help the rice underneath cook). Drizzle over olive oil.
- Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until mushroom is golden. While your rice is cooking, prepare your meatballs and sweet and sour sauce.
Vegan Meatballs
- Add the ingredients for your meatballs into a food processor (or use a hand blender) and blend until well combined.
- Begin rolling the mixture into meatballs. (You may want to use a small ice cream scoop to grab the mixture portions). Your balls will cook differently depending on the size you roll them. Aim for about 1 1/2 inch round meatballs.
- In a large non-stick pan heat your olive oil for 1 minute then add your meatballs and cook for 15 minutes on medium low to brown each side.
Sweet & Sour Sauce
- Add apple cider vinegar, vegan sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, cold water, garlic, ginger, and corn starch to a small saucepan.
- On medium heat stir frequently until it starts to boil. Allow sauce to boil for about 30 seconds then remove from heat.
- Serve vegan meatballs on top of a healthy portion of the mushroom rice, then drizzle the meatballs with sweet and sour sauce. Garnish with fresh mint and serve!