Not Your Average Meatball Sub

These meatballs are made from vegetarian meat as a substitute for the real thing, but if you're a meat eater go ahead and swap it out for some lean ground beef! The general conversion is 12 oz. of vegetarian meat to 16 oz. of ground beef, because the beef loses more moisture during the cooking process.

Recipe and idea compliments of Momma Tammen.

Ingredients:
One 12 oz. package of vegetarian ground beef (we used Morning Star Veggie Crumbles)
~ 1/2 cup Seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. If your vegetarian meat is frozen heat it on a skillet with the crushed garlic and onion until it thaws and the juices start to seep out. If already thawed out just start by putting all of these ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Transfer to a bowl and add egg, salt and pepper. Slowly add the bread crumbs until the mixture becomes thick enough that the meat balls will stick together. For me this was around 1/2 cup but this could very well vary.

3. Add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of a glass casserole dish. Place your meatballs in the dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until brown and crisp on outside. Time may vary depending on meatball size.











For the Sandwich:
Ingredients:
Fresh baguette
Fresh Mozzarella
Black Olives, sliced
Pepperoncini
Marinara Sauce
Chopped Spinach

Directions:
1. While the meatballs are baking cut a 6" length of the baguette in half, submarine sandwich style.
2. Add the fresh Mozzarella (or goat cheese makes a tasty substitution/addition here) so that the warm meatballs will melt the cheese when added. On the other half of the baguette add the pepperoncini and sliced black olives.
3. Heat up the Marinara Sauce.
4. Add the warm meatballs fresh from the oven, top with warm Marinara Sauce and chopped spinach.
5. Grab some napkins and dig in! Caution, these are extremely messy and self rewarding.

While these make a delicious sandwich, the meatballs are also great atop a bed of wilted spinach, onion and feta cheese with a fresh balsamic vinaigrette.

Meal Quality: Holy cannoli, these vegetarian meatballs pack a flavorful punch. Even though I am vegetarian, I ate meat for years and years, and honestly it tastes like meat, it feels like meat...If that grosses you out, fellow vegetarians, I'm sorry, but it's pretty darn delicious. The sandwich is amazing, and the add ons like the goat cheese, pepperoncini, and olives made my taste buds scream. Nutritionally speaking, these balls cover your protein bases, keeping you fuller longer and powering you through reading/work late into the night!

51 Porter Factor: Going meatless, even if it's not everyday, is a great way to reduce your cholesterol and saturated fat intake and help out the environment. Growing a vegetable uses far less resources and creates less pollutants than raising the equivalent amount of calories from an animal source. Plus, being a vegetarian isn't all that hard when you know what to cook, a good first step would be this delicious sandwich (or try the sweet potato veggie burger recipe also on this blog)!

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