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Heather Crosby, creator of YumUniverse has just published her new book YumUniverse Pantry to Plate. Heather is one of those creative foodies, that you definitely have to follow if you are a lover of delicious vegan and GF food. In her new book she shows how fun it can be to play around with food without strict rules and create something amazing with whatever you have on hands. I am so happy to share one of my favourite recipes from her book and to give a copy of the book to one of you.
I won’t use the word cookbook when I talk about YumUniverse Pantry to Plate, because it’s so much more than a regular, old-fashioned cookbook. This book is more like a playbook, a helpful guide or if you want a template to personalise basically any vegan recipe. If you read my blog regularly you know how much I love improvising in the kitchen and cooking without planning. I absolutely adore Heather’s approach, because it’s something that can work for everybody. Whether you crave a good veggie burger, something cheesy or just simply have some random vegetables in the fridge that you would like to ferment, Heather will give you great tips how to make the most out of those ideas. I strongly believe that a good cookbook should simply inspire you to get creative in the kitchen every day. If you are like me and hate following exact measurements, you’ll really like this book. But don’t be afraid, if you prefer classic recipes, Heather’s book has tons of those for you too.
The recipe I share today with you is a super versatile one. These Italian-Style Lentil & Mushroom (Not)Meatballs are great with pasta, rice or salads, but you can also shape them into burger patties. They are crazy good with avocado and spinach on a lovely, warm burger bun!
••• The GIVEAWAY is closed •••
Giveaway is sponsored by The Experiment Publishing. All opinions are my own.
If you try this recipe, let me know! I would highly appreciate if you could leave a comment and rate it. Also don’t forget to take a picture and tag it on Instagram (use the hashtag #greenevi) or post it on Facebook! I love seeing what you come up with! ♥︎
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Italian-Style Lentil & Mushroom (Not)Meatballs
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 20-24 balls 1x
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, grapeseed oil, or avocado oil
- 2 cups (260 g) diced carrots
- 1 cup (70 g) chopped portobello mushrooms
- 1 cup (160 g) diced yellow onion
- 2 cups (400 g) cooked green, brown, or French green lentils (roughly 3/4 cup/140 g dry)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground psyllium husk
- 2 teaspoons rough-chopped fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon fresh-cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- In a skillet heated to medium, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and sauté the carrots for 20 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork but firm, not mushy.
- Add the mushrooms and onion and sauté over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until softened and browning a bit. Transfer to a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Pulse together 30 to 35 times, until just broken up and sticky with texture and bits of colour intact. Taste – if needed, season with more salt or seasonings. Pulse or stir to incorporate.
- Form 1½-inch (4 cm) meatballs with your hands. Heat a skillet to medium and add the remaining oil. Slow-cook the meatballs, rotating often, for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned on all sides. Serve warm. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe from YumUniverse Pantry to Plate © Heather Crosby, 2017. Photographs copyright © Heather Crosby, 2017. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Vegan
I prefer getting creative with leftovers! Love love lentil meatballs <3 this book looks so lovely!
My favourite way to cook too!
I love using recipes as a guide. I read the recipe carefully, taking in mind the ingredients and the amounts of seasonings (I like my food to be full of flavor. As a make the dish, I usually make tweaks here and there to match my flavor profile (Mediterranean/middle east).
It’s so interesting how we all love doing different things in the kitchen. I personally rarely ever follow recipes (maybe that’s why I suck at baking), but my boyfriend for example hates improvising when cooking. He enjoys cooking with exact recipes, he follows them religiously. Even after making a dish 10000 times 😀
Such a beautiful recipe, Evi! The pics are delicious <3
I love it so much too! Lentils and mushrooms are so good together 🙂
My favorite way to cook is with recipes. I wish I could be more creative and trusting of myself to be able to freestyle.
I think both ways can be really fun! If you follow an exact recipe you will very likely end up with something super delicious 😉
However I am a horrible person when shopping and tend to buy way too much fresh produce without planning so I have to find a way to use up those things 😀
I prefer to refer to the experts and follow recipes – thanks!
Good cookbooks and food blogs can be so inspiring 🙂
Like seeing what I’ve got to use up in the freezer and fridge x
Me too 😉
These look so SO good and what obviously makes it all even better is the giveaway 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity, Evi! That said, I would definitely have to say that, when it comes to cooking, I’m not one to strictly follow recipes, so I generally just do my own thing. However, and this is a big however, following recipes (more or less) is definitely something I want to get myself to do, as I believe it could open up a lot of new doors for me and help me learn more about food/cooking/flavors and whatnot
I totally agree with you, Pia! I am not good at strictly following recipes, but sometimes I really wish I was. I feel like I’m missing out on amazing baked goods sometimes, so I definitely need to get myself to do things after instructions more often 😉
Well then I’m glad I’m not the only one! Although I guess it’s not a very good club to be in, huh? 😉
Hahahha, every club is good to be when it’s about cooking 😀
I always follow the recipe once, then I allow myself to get creative….works *mostly*!!!
That’s a great way! And a massive kitchen fail makes always a good story 😀
I love to combine several recipes and then add my own touch. I have a “special” diet I have to follow due to all my food sensitivities which is similiar to Paleo. This book looks awesome! I’m excited to see if I win! I also already follow you on everything and get the newsletter.
Thank you so much, Stephanie! Combining recipes is so much fun and can be a great option for those with food sensitivities 🙂
I have always followed recipes,I have three children one with so many allergies to foods it’s easier to ask what “she can eat than can’t”. Two of my children are vegetarian and a husband who loves his meat. I I love wholesome recipes using as much organic and natural foods I can,which then allows me to be creative !
Oh, that must be hard sometimes! Luckily I don’t have any food allergies, but I was a very picky child and an only vegetarian in my family, so I can imagine how difficult it can be to cook for a family with so many different food preferences. But yes, I totally agree with you, natural foods can be so much fun to cook with and a wonderful way to get creative in the kitchen 🙂
I like to follow a recipe the first time I make it, then use it as a guide the next time, allowing for substitutions. This looks like an awesome book that would be great in my GF vegan collection!
That’s always a great way to cook! 😉
This recipe sounds tasty! I love eating mushrooms, especially since they have a meaty texture to them. Do you think instead of the psyllium husk you can use ground flax seeds? Or even coconut flour?
Hi Carolyn,
I haven’t tried the recipe with flax seeds, but I think they would work here too. If the balls won’t hold together well enough, you could simply bake them in the oven instead of frying them in a pan 😉
Let me know if you try it and how it worked!
Such a gorgeous idea, Evi. I love lentils and mushrooms both and this Italian style meatball recipe sounds really delicious. This book sounds lovely.
It’s a lovely book, indeed 🙂
These sound delicious and they look great too, what an interesting book!
Yes, these balls are so delicious 🙂
Im definitely a cookbook follower! Ima create of habit and tend to get stuck in a rut with eating the same thing with leftovers if Im left WITHOUT a cookbook – so my kitchen is packed full of them (and Im always on the hunt for new ones!)
I loooooooove cookbooks too, though I rarely ever make any recipes from them 😀
But I’d love to have your kitchen full of beautiful cookbooks 😉
Such a wonderful dish. I have to try it soon. Yumm 🙂
It’s really good, you should definitely make it 😉
Thanks so much for the giveaway! I like to follow recipes for the most part.
🙂
What a delicious vegetarian meatballs! Although I don’t buy cookbooks but I would love to win this book since it is gluten free and plant based
I don’t follow a recipe word to word and prefer to get creative with whatever I have on hand.
It’s so funny because I also don’t like following recipes, but I loooooooove buying cookbooks. I’m not sure why 😀
Wow!! they look awesome. Delicious vegetarian meatballs. Yumm 🙂
Great “meatballs”, I would love some!
They are so delicious 🙂
I like to start with a recipe and cook it exactly as listed so I know how it is supposed turn out. Then sometimes I change it up to better fit my tastes. =)
That’s always a clever thing to do 😉
With new recipes I like to follow the give recipe. But if I’m familiar with the ingredients then I can just whip something up.
🙂