Spaghetti & Bean Balls

Ingredients

Bean balls

  • Cooking spray
  • 3 cups cooked kidney beans
  • ¼ cup chopped onion
  • ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
  • 2 teaspoons no-salt, all-purpose seasoning blend
  • 1 teaspoon each dried thyme, basil, and oregano
  • ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

House marinara

  • 1 large onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 2 cans(28 ounces) whole tomatoes
  • Salt
  • Toss In Ideas: spinach, arugula, fresh basil, fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mash up the beans in a large bowl until they form a paste. Some whole bean bits are cool, but try to keep that to a minimum. Stir in the rest of the ingredients for the balls and mix it all up so that everything gets distributed. You might need to use your hands to really get in there. If it feels a little dry, add a tablespoon or two of water. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball and put them on the greased baking sheet. You should get 20 to 25 depending on your rolling skills. Spray them lightly with cooking spray and bake for about 30 minutes, turning them over halfway, until both sides are golden brown.

While the balls are cooking, get your sauce ready. Chop up the onion. Dice up the carrot into pieces about the size of a pea. Mince the garlic up small.

Heat the oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté it until begins to look golden in some places, 5-7 minutes. Add the carrot and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes.

Open the canned tomatoes and squeeze them into a bunch of pieces and stir them into the pot as you go. Keep doing this until all the tomatoes are smashed up, then add 1 ½ cups of the juice from the cans to the pot along with a pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer this uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, until all of the tomatoes are broken down. Taste and add more garlic, thyme, salt, or anything else you think it needs.