Spaghetti and Beanballs - Vegan Cooking Challenge

This was an insanely busy week and thankfully I had decided ahead of time to prepare something relatively simple.  My challenge recipe for week two was Spaghetti and Beanballs from Veganomicon.  The bean balls are made with mashed up kidney beans, seasonings, bread crumbs and some wheat gluten.  We liked them but weren't thrilled so to speak.  I guess I'm not a huge kidney bean fan because they tasted too bean-y to me.  The leftovers are going to work with my husband.    Next week I promise to make something more attractive and hopefully delicious! 

Spaghetti and Beanballs

And here is Jeannette's yummy looking submission:

We had a rather late breakfast today, so we didn’t want a big meal. I decided to prepare Curried Cashew Couscous from the book Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. This dish was very quick to prepare, as the recipe promised. I did leave out the ginger and the scallions (I don’t like either taste), and I added an extra ½ cup of green peas. I don’t own any “fragrant” oils, like walnut oil, so I used 2 tablespoons of good quality virgin olive oil.


The resulting dish was very pretty to look at, slightly orange from the curry and turmeric. The peas and dried cranberries added a nice pop of color. The curry was very subtle, but tasty. You could add more curry and/or the ginger for a spicier taste, but it isn’t necessary.

I am surprised by the high calorie count per serving in the nutritional information given with the recipe. There are 400 cal for the cashews and 260 for the oil, which comes to 165 cal/serving at 4 servings. That leaves another 250 calories per serving for everything else, so I think 414 cal/serving is high, especially as it makes a lot. I think it is a pretty healthy and tasty side dish. We ate it warm, but it could be good cold. I think I might add more fruit to it, too, like apples, or maybe shredded carrots.

Curried Cashew Couscous