Sweet & Sour Vegetarian Meatballs

Day 50

Last night's supper was at the Staff Holiday Party and wouldn't you know? I forgot to take a pic of my plate. It was very good though, and consisted of 2 scoops of potatoes, a hefty portion of mixed frozen veggies, 2 scoops of vegetarian stuffing, coleslaw, a roll and cranberry sauce. We were accommodated as the only vegetarians there with special stuffing and extra veggies and coleslaw. Dessert was no-bake cherry cheesecake.

Meatless Meatballs

Tonight's menu is very exciting, as it features the meatless meatballs (amazeballs) that we love so much! Laura made a double batch this time, meaning we had about 30 of them - supper plus leftovers! Pretty sure I will be taking some for lunch. :)

Sweet & Sour Vegetarian Meatballs 

Sweet & sour ingredients

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Ingredients

1 can pineapple chunks, reserve juice
1/4 bottle Maraschino cherries
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 yellow pepper, coarsely chopped
1 large, 2 medium or 4 small onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 cup pineapple juice
1 tbsp soy sauce

Mix

1 tbsp corn starch
2 - 3 tbsp water

Directions

Sauté the onions until translucent in a large skillet (in a splash of water - healthy saute), then add peppers . Cook until softened.

Onions and peppers sautéing

In a bowl, combine the ketchup, pineapple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and garlic.

Sweet & sour mixture

When vegetables are soft, pour the liquid mixture from the bowl to the skillet. Add corn starch and water and simmer until thickened. Add the meatlessballs and continue cooking for about 10 minutes until flavors meld. Add the cherries and pineapple chunks at the very end (they don't require cooking).

Sweet & sour meatless balls bubbling in skillet

Brown Rice

We like brown rice because it's creamy and not mushy. It takes about 35 - 40 minutes to cook, since its not instant rice, but we discovered many years ago that it is worth the time to cook it this way instead of buying the instant kinds. There is such a huge difference in texture and flavor. The good thing is, it doesn't require a lot of babysitting. Just bring salted water to a boil (see package for amounts), add the rice, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 40 minutes. It's best not to peek too often, but definitely make sure there is still water in there. If there is no steam coming out, then it has probably boiled dry. You can add more water at this point, as needed, about 1/2 - 1 cup at a time. I like to be prepared with some from the kettle so it doesn't have to come back up to temp.

Cooked brown rice

Serve

Serve the sweet and sour meatlessballs over about a cup and a half of cooked rice. You're gonna like it!

Sweet & Sour Vegetarian Meatballs 

Reviews/Comments

This was soooo good. Just as with the meatball subs, the meatlessballs were just as good as meatballs. Laura makes terrific sweet and sour sauce too. Laura thinks anything made with this meatball recipe gets a 10.

Me: 10
Laura: 10