Ingredients
Vegan Meatballs
- 1 cup dark vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup textured vegetable protein (TVP)
- 3/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Soup
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- One 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, with their juices
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup small shaped pasta
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Directions
- To make the meatballs:1. Bring the stock, liquid smoke, and Worcestershire sauce to a boil in a small pot. Remove from the heat, add the TVP, and let sit for 5 minutes. Using your hands, combine the reconstituted TVP, bread crumbs, vital wheat gluten, parsley, garlic, ketchup, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Form balls about the size of a rounded tablespoon and place them on a large plate or baking dish. Refrigerate for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Arrange the meatballs on the baking sheet in a single layer and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes then flip the meatballs over and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake until browned and firm, another 10 to 15 minutes.To make the soup:1. Warm the oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, water, and Italian seasoning, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- Add the pasta and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through. Stir in the spinach, basil, and cooked meatballs and cook until the spinach is wilted.
More from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food
• Sweet Potato Soufflé Recipe• Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
Per serving:231 calories17 grams protein4 grams total fat1 gram saturated fat2 grams monounsaturated fat35 grams carbohydrates9 grams fiber12 grams sugar280 mg calcium6 mg iron1,063 mg sodium
Recipes from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food: 150 Down-Home Recipes Packed with Flavor, Not Calories, copyright © Alicia C. Simpson, 2012. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold. Buy this book from our store: Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food.
Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food (The Experiment, 2012), by Alicia C. Simpson, offers 150 satisfying and flavorful new recipes to enjoy from breakfast to dinner and anytime in between. However you define “comfort food,” Simpson has you covered with down-home Southern standards, Tex-Mex fiesta favorites and a few surprises destined to become new standbys. The following excerpt from “Soup’s On!” is a recipe for vegan meatball soup.
You can purchase this book from the Mother Earth Living store: Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food.
Meatball soup gives you a whole lot of bang for your nutritional buck. It is less than 250 calories a serving, and it has 17 grams of protein, 9 grams of fiber, 6 grams of iron, and almost as much calcium as a glass of milk! It’s hard to imagine you can fit all that goodness into one hearty bowl of soup but in the land of Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food anything is possible.
