Rice & Wheat Balls

Our fridge was empty last night - we're talking baron. We haven't gone food shopping all week because I wanted to clear out a lot of foods before starting to try out the anti-inflammatory diet on Monday. So last night felt sort of like that show Chopped where they put random things in front of you and tell you to create a meal.

Surprisingly, I was able to pull something together that was really tasty and, with the addition of more veggies next time, I think it's a keeper. We had a few of Nate's Savory Mushroom Meatless Meatballs floating around our freezer, about a cup of broccoli florets and stems, an onion, garlic clove, and the butt of some ginger. Oh, and rice. We always keep a stock of grains on our shelf, all lined up in Ball jars. There's rice, lentils (green and multi-colored), quinoa, polenta, arborio rice, couscous, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, and steel cut oats. It's nice to always have a stock of various grains and legumes - I recommend everyone stock their kitchens this way. It makes nights when the kitchen's bare go a little easier!


Rice & Wheat Balls

2 cups uncooked brown rice
5 cups homemade vegetable stock, or water
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 inch of ginger, grated
1 cup chopped broccoli
5-6 Nate's Savory Mushroom Meatless Meatballs (or whatever brand you choose)
1/2 cup fresh basil
olive oil

Sauce:
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp roasted red chili paste
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

Cook your rice in a rice cooker with the vegetable stock (you can also use water, but the veggie stock really imparts a great flavor and I recommend you try it at least once).

Defrost the Meatless Meatballs in the microwave.

While rice is cooking, put a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onions. Once onions are translucent, add garlic and ginger. Then Meatless Meatballs and cook until nice and browned. Add the broccoli and basil and cook. I like it when things get a little charred - but cook it to your preference. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Mix together the sauce ingredients - those aren't exact measurements as I don't normally measure things out when I'm making sauces so just taste and make sure you like it.

To serve:
Put some rice in the bottom of a bowl (you'll have more rice than you need - yay! left overs for another dish) and top with veggies. There were enough for 2 servings, but if you added more veggies you'd get 4 probably. Serve with sauce on the side. I'd like to try adding some mango in the future - I think it would go with the flavors really well and add some natural sweetness.