Meatless Monday with Vegan Lentil Bulgur Meatballs

Hello and welcome (back) to our latest meat-free recipe share in honuor of Meatless Monday. Miratel took the Meatless Monday challenge as it encourages eliminating meat from your diet one day per week to preserve the health of our planet (and ourselves!). We consider our support of this great movement part of our CSR business strategies as it raises awareness of the impact our food and other personal choices have on our environment.

Just because you’re cooking a vegan meal doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavour or sustenance. Tonight we’ll be enjoying Vegan Lentil Bulgur Meatballs which come courtesy of Laila Gohar from the Food Republic website – an excellent resource for foodies (not all vegan/vegetarian). This nutrient-dense recipe combines bulgar and lentils in one delicious and easy-to-make dish – let’s get started.

Vegan Lentil Bulgur Meatballs Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 cup bulgur, washed and drained
• 1 cup red lentils, washed and drained
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• red pepper flakes, optional

Directions

1. Bring the red lentils to a simmer in 2 1/2 cups of water on low heat.
2. After most of the water has evaporated, (but there’s still a little left), add the bulgur. Stir and continue to cook until all the water has evaporated. Cover the pot with a lid and set aside.
3. In another medium-sized pot, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and cumin and stir well.
5. Add in the lentil and bulgur mixture. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes doughy and starts to come away from the sides of the pot, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cover the pot with the lid. Set aside until the mixture has cooled.
6. Once the mixture has cooled, add the parsley and green onion and mix till well-incorporated.
7. Shape the mixture into meatballs using your hands. Traditionally, they are oval-shaped rather than round (as seen in the photo).
8. Sprinkle the lemon juice on top of the meatballs, and if using pepper flakes sprinkle those on top as well.
9. Serve at room temperature with lemon wedges

You can substitute the red lentils for yellow, green or brown if they are more available to you. If you have never tried bulgur, don’t hesitate. This superfood is a “whole grain made from several different types of cracked wheat”, has a nutty flavour and is half the calories of quinoa. Pretty amazing, eh? To complete this fine meal, serve with a big raw green salad, full of the veggies of your choice and tossed with your favourite dressing – a light vinaigrette or vegan green goddess would work great.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.