The Nutramilk Blogazine
In a Nutshell
Our recipes, diet, health, wellness and fitness blogazine, where we bring you weekly advice, ideas and inspiration for living a healthier lifestyle and your NutraMilk processor.
Recipe prepared and photographed by NutraMilk nutritionist, Florencia Tagliavini.
These healthy and delicious vegan lentil ¨meatballs¨ can be served with rice, pasta, veggies or as a stand alone snack. They can make a great post-workout meal as they provide a balanced array of important nutrients needed to rebuild muscle protein, glycogen stores and more.
For more information about the fitness and nutrition check out the following article : Fuel Your Workout with The NutraMilk.
INGREDIENTS
For pumpkin seed butter
- 2 cups (236g) raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt (optional)
For lentil meatballs
- 3 tbsp. pumpkin seed butter made with the NutraMilk
- 3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, divided
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 batch flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax seed and 2 1/2 tablespoons water) or 1 whole egg
- 1 1/2 cups green lentils, cooked in vegetable stock and cooled
- 1 tbsp. italian seasoning (dried basil + oregano)
- 1/4 cup fresh italian parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tsp. sea salt and black pepper, or to taste
For Pumpkin seed spinach pesto
- 3 tbsp. pumpkin seed butter made with the NutraMilk
- 1/2 cup fresh spinach, lightly packed
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, lightly packed
- 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp. nutritional yeast (or substitute with parmesan)
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Making pumpkin butter
- Place pumpkin seeds and salt in the NutraMilk container.
- Press Butter cycle, set for 10-11 minutes.
- Press Start.
- Open the container lid.
- Add olive oil and any other seasoning you´d like.
- Press Mix cycle (Do not change default time) and start.
- If necessary, set for an additional 2-3 minutes for a creamier butter.
- Leave 3 tbsp. of butter in the container to make pesto and take the rest out and set aside.
Making pesto sauce
- Place all the rest of the pesto ingredient sin the NutraMilk container along with the 3 tbsp. of pumpkin seed butter and mix, until well combined. Take pesto and reserve to use over lentil meatballs.
Making lentils ¨meatballs¨
- Cook lentils according to package instructions, using vegetable stock instead of water for more flavor. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium skillet, cook shallots and garlic until translucent. Season with black pepper.
- In a medium bowl, combine cooled lentils, shallots, garlic, and all remaining ingredients.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a large spoon, portion the meatballs out and roll gently between two hands.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat -gently place meatballs into the skillet to sear, leaving space between each one. Turn each meatball to sear until dark brown on all sides, about 3 minutes, then remove to a baking dish.
- Place in oven for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
- Serve lentil meatballs with pesto with pasta, rice, veggies or however you prefer. Enjoy!
