Vegetarian Lentil & Cashew Meatballs

We’ve obviously all heard about Swedish meatballs, and I did have my fair share of those as a kid. But since going vegetarian about 18 years ago, I’ve – naturally – opted out. While there are a bunch of vegetarian ‘balls’ out there, none of them have really tickled my fancy. I tend to stay away from soy stuff, simply because of the environmental impact, and the ones we’ve tried making at home over the years have come out either a little dry and crumbly or just… plain. And then we took to experimenting a little. Thanks to some leftover raw cashews nuts that we stumbled upon when going through the cabinets, we came up with the idea of mixing those with chewy black lentils, and this combination turned out to be the winner.

That we’re big fans of black lentils (or beluga lentils, as they’re also called) shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone at this point. We go through at least a bag of 500 grams a week around here, and come up with new ways of having them all the time (some good, some… not so good). We usually don’t put them in patties or balls though, so this was certainly a new application. I know most of you already know this, but thanks to the lentils, we get a good chunk of not only protein and fiber, but also heaps and heaps of folic acid, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and iron, to name a few of the micronutrients in there. Add to that a generous amount of cashews – full to the brim of more folic acid and phosphorus, plus plenty of vitamin E and magnesium – and you realize these innocent-looking veggie balls are like dynamite. What is it that the cool kids say these days… ah, plant-power. That’s the word. We like to serve these alongside a pile of seasonal vegetables, roasted in the oven with plenty of rosemary and topped off with some flake salt. Sauces for dipping vary – sometimes a cold yogurt based one, other times hot sauce or a slab of that Swedish sweet-strong mustard we can’t get enough of. Either way, these are delicious. And since we like to make big batches of food, we kept the recipe… big. This makes approx. 70-75 balls, and they store very well in both fridge and freezer. Hope you’ll like them as much as we do, and keep us posted if you do give them a go!

För recept på svenska, klicka här: Vegetariska lins- och cashewbullar

Makes approx. 70 balls (2-3 cm diameter)

4 dl (350 g) dried black lentils, rinsed
1 tbsp bouillon powder (equals 1 cube)
2 medium onions (approx. 250 g), chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 1/2 dl (200 g) raw cashews
2 eggs
1/2 dl breadcrumbs
1/2 dl oat milk
7 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
Flour (of your choice) to roll the balls in + cooking oil

1. First, cook the lentils by placing them in a pot together with 4 dl water and the bouillon powder. Bring to a boil and then let simmer over low heat (covered) for about 25 min or until done – all the water should be absorbed and the consistency should be soft but with a little bit of a bite left. Set aside.
2. Heat up the olive oil in a pan, and sauté onions over medium heat for a few minutes. Add in the garlic and continue cooking for another few minutes. Take off the heat and set aside.
3. In a food processor, pulse the cashews until broken down but not ground into a flour. Add in all the remaining ingredients, including lentils and onions (all at once if you have a large and powerful food processor, a little at a time if not) and mix until you have a nice batter. Don’t let it go until a paste forms – you want some different textures left – but it needs to become uniform enough for you to shape it with your hands.
4. Season to taste, and then form balls with your hands. Sprinkle some flour on a plate and roll the balls in the flour so they get a thin dusting all around, and then proceed to sautéing them in a pan over medium heat in a little bit of oil. Cook until lightly browned, shaking them around as you go, approx. 5-10 min. Serve right away, or store for later. The freeze very well and last in the fridge for up to a week.

Nutritional information:

Per ball (approx.): 2 grams protein and 4 grams carbohydrates