Vegetarian Super Bowl Party
Every year much of America dedicates a day to football with friends and family for an epic Super Bowl Party. I've never personally been a football fan, even though I come from a family of die hards. I went to games throughout my youth because in a small rural town, there's not much else to do on a Friday night. I can say, however, I was given a ticket to join some friends for a Denver Broncos game when we lived in the city and I haven't a clue if we won or lost or who we even played, but I had a great time freezing my butt off with friends.
Robert on the other hand, is an intense Broncos fan. He likes some other teams too but I tend to zone out when he talks about stuff like that but at least I know the important part: Go Broncos! Rob had a tradition before we moved of hanging with friends and watching football at home or the bar and gets riled up by the crowd. He enjoys the thrill of watching it happen live on tv and the comraderie of friends coming together even when everyone has a busy schedule pulling them in opposite directions.
I can see the fun of having a few hours to spend with friends that you can count on. I've even experienced the joy of a winning team in Denver even when I wasn't personally invested in the outcome. But one reason why I might not be so into the game as others is that food and beer are a big part of the experience. As a vegetarian who is usually training for a race or deep in my yoga practice, I find these gatherings hard to get excited about when I don't want a beer in my hand and to top it off, there is never any food I can eat. Until now...
I've always enjoyed the idea of finger food and could live off of grazing through appetizers. After perusing Pinterest without much luck for "what I want" I finally settled on the idea of combining a few recipes and some flavors I was craving. And so the Vegetarian Super Bowl Meatball was born. I'll warn you, when Rob puts our recipes he's very good at understanding measurements even when he eyeballs it. But I have very little IQ in the spacial relationship area and struggle between teaspoons and tablespoons and 20 yards or 100 feet. So, take this recipe with a grain of salt and recognize that I would love for you to make this your own. I literally threw it together with what we had sitting in our pantry. This recipe is gluten free but only because of the crackers I used - you can use regular Ritz or Saltine crackers instead if you prefer.
Super Bowl Vegetarian Meatballs
Meatballs:
12 oz Monterey Jack , shredded
2 cups Dry Textured Soy Protein
2 cups water
Ingredients mixed before frying - going for that perfect consistency
1 1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped or ground
1 whole yellow onion
1 egg
5-10 sprigs fresh sage, finely chppped
large pinch of salt & peper
Cooking Oil
Sauce:
1 1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
a few drops liquid smoke
a few drops Worcestershire
pinch of cayenne
pinch of salt to taste
Mix all ingredients for meatballs in a large mixing bowl. Form 2-3 inch size balls out of mixture and drop each one into hot frier oil for about 1 minute, depending on temperature. You want it hot enough to bubble when you drop the ball in. Once the ball holds together and has a slight crust formed to hold shape, use a ladle to fish the balls out and place in a baking dish. Nestle them right next to one another.
Pour sauce mixture over meatballs and place in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on elevation.
1/2 pint Peach, apricot or similar jam, sauce or preserves (I used some peach vanilla bean sauce I had canned previously so don't be afraid to play with sweet and smokey or spicy flavors together)
