As promised, it being the Nine Days (see an earlier post of mine for a brief discussion of the culinary constraints of the Nine Days), it is time for meatLESS balls. Or, as I call them, Soylent Brown Balls.
Plus, of course,
pasghetti (as my nine year old grandson calls those long stringy pieces of pasta).
Now I have nothing against soy, mind you. I do eat lots of it. Soylent Brown, Soylent White, you name it. But while I don't object to a soyburger or, you'll pardon the description, kosher fake "bacon," there almost something sacrilegious about SoyBalls. Especially on pasta, as opposed to perhaps a SoyBall hero.
Still, what's a guy to do during the Nine Days - so here we go.
My choice of brand of Soylent Brown for this meal was LightLife's Gimme Lean. And indeed it is "lean," containing zero fat. But we'll change that in a little bit - after all, it is fat that gives real meat a bunch of its flavor.
For the record, what is in GimmeLean is: water, soy protein concentrate, tapioca starch, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), soy protein isolate, dried onion, wheat gluten, malt extract, beet powder, natural flavors (from vegetable sources), spices, and vegetable gum.
All of which adds up to 7 grams of protein for what they call a serving (2 oz), so a real serving is even more. And the maybe 500 mg of sodium in the size serving I dish out isn't all that bad either. Not great, but I've seen worse.
The folks a
t Lightlife imagine you can take their product and roll it into little balls, brown them, and eat them. I guess some folk might like that, but not to my taste. I add roughly the same stuff that I add to chopped meat when I make meatballs: 1 egg per pound of meat (er soylent), enough wheat germ (Mother's) to maintain a nice texture, chopped garlic (yep, I cheat a bit and use Christopher Ranch pre-minced garlic) for some great flavor, and a bunch of Hungarian sweet paprika both for more flavor and color. One could add any of a variety of other spices as well, based on taste.
Now its time to make the Soylent Brown Balls - I get about 20 out of a 14 ounce package of LightLife's Soylent Brown (which they claims is equivalent to a pound of
beef before its cooked).
The rest is child's play - brown the balls in hot oil (Olive for flavor or Canola if you wish). Drop browned balls into your choice of tomato sauce.
Serve on Pasghetti - my choice for this meal a whole wheat linguine made in Italy. A nice green salad on the side, perhaps a choice of steamed veggies.
Ah, and Chianti, if you can find kosher Chianti in your neighborhood. I settled for a beer, though.
Plus, of course,
pasghetti (as my nine year old grandson calls those long stringy pieces of pasta).Now I have nothing against soy, mind you. I do eat lots of it. Soylent Brown, Soylent White, you name it. But while I don't object to a soyburger or, you'll pardon the description, kosher fake "bacon," there almost something sacrilegious about SoyBalls. Especially on pasta, as opposed to perhaps a SoyBall hero.
Still, what's a guy to do during the Nine Days - so here we go.
My choice of brand of Soylent Brown for this meal was LightLife's Gimme Lean. And indeed it is "lean," containing zero fat. But we'll change that in a little bit - after all, it is fat that gives real meat a bunch of its flavor.
For the record, what is in GimmeLean is: water, soy protein concentrate, tapioca starch, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), soy protein isolate, dried onion, wheat gluten, malt extract, beet powder, natural flavors (from vegetable sources), spices, and vegetable gum.
All of which adds up to 7 grams of protein for what they call a serving (2 oz), so a real serving is even more. And the maybe 500 mg of sodium in the size serving I dish out isn't all that bad either. Not great, but I've seen worse.
The folks a
t Lightlife imagine you can take their product and roll it into little balls, brown them, and eat them. I guess some folk might like that, but not to my taste. I add roughly the same stuff that I add to chopped meat when I make meatballs: 1 egg per pound of meat (er soylent), enough wheat germ (Mother's) to maintain a nice texture, chopped garlic (yep, I cheat a bit and use Christopher Ranch pre-minced garlic) for some great flavor, and a bunch of Hungarian sweet paprika both for more flavor and color. One could add any of a variety of other spices as well, based on taste.Now its time to make the Soylent Brown Balls - I get about 20 out of a 14 ounce package of LightLife's Soylent Brown (which they claims is equivalent to a pound of
beef before its cooked).The rest is child's play - brown the balls in hot oil (Olive for flavor or Canola if you wish). Drop browned balls into your choice of tomato sauce.
Serve on Pasghetti - my choice for this meal a whole wheat linguine made in Italy. A nice green salad on the side, perhaps a choice of steamed veggies.
Ah, and Chianti, if you can find kosher Chianti in your neighborhood. I settled for a beer, though.
i miss your cooking! even if it is soylent green,er, brown balls.........
ReplyDeleteThe dinner was actually quite good. I could see how one can be vegetarian and still have a delicious equivalent to real meatballs and spaghetti!
ReplyDelete(and I wish A.and dodah H. could be here to eat it, too!)
I like your cooking style , in your cooking very effective to the eat. i want this type of cooking.in their all elements available.
ReplyDelete-----
whey powder