Kaylee's not-a-blog » Food » Meals » Quinoa meatless balls with spaghetti and sun-dried-Tomato sauce

• Spaghetti and all "flat" pastas are the most space efficient pasta.
  (Note: the box I used in this batch was whole wheat and was bought 2 years ago, so it definitely has an excellent shelf life.)
• Quinoa is both shelf stable and is a "complete" protein.
  (Most plant based proteins are "incomplete", so must be eaten in combination to form a "complete" protein. The classic example is rice and beans. :) )

Pre-van, I had experimented with quinoa, and my favorite recipe was meatless "meatballs".
The original recipe used an oven, so I recently tried it with my crockpot.
They were "ok", but the recipe produced too much to cook in one batch, so (as an experiment) I pan fried about half, which turned out better (crispier) and was both fast & simple, so I've now standardized on pan frying.

I've made it with both diced tomato pseudo sauce, and with sun-dried-Tomatoes pre-soaked with the pasta in water.
Both "sauces" were easy and worked out well.
The sun dried tomatoes are often cheaper, and I still have plenty of my big Dollar Tree stockup. :)
The canned tomatoes are generally tastier, and are particularly handy if one is running low on water.

Recipe:

Here's the recipe, which makes a very generous serving for one hungry person (IMO).

• about 1/4 to 1/2 onion, chopped
• about 1/3 to 1/2 cup Quinoa (ideally "pre washed")
• ~1/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
• ~1/6 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ~~1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ~~1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 egg
  
  
• ~4 ounces pasta

I don't measure the spices, just eyeball them, so please experiment.
The rest of the ingredients are also very flexible, quantity wise.

1. Prepare the quinoa:
   Use a 2:1 water to quinoa ratio, boil the water, add the quinoa, then simmer for about 15 minutes.
   Theoretically, you should prewash the quinoa, then drain it after cooking, however I've found both steps unnecessary when making this particular recipe.
2. Prepare the meatless-balls:
   In a bowl, mix:  cooked quinoa, onion, flour, Parmesan cheese, spices, and egg.
   Using wet hands, make about 9 balls, then place them directly on an oiled baking sheet.
   Bake in a 400F oven for 7 to 9 minutes, or until browned.
3. Prepare the pasta:
   Boil water, add pasta, simmer until desired tenderness.

1. Prepare the quinoa:
   Instead of simmering, I normally use a Thermos, and just leave it for at least half an hour.
   
2. Prepare the meatless-balls:
   Instead of my hands, I use a spoon to form individual balls or patties, then cook them in a frypan with a bit oil.
   Fry until desired level of crispiness, flipping at least once.
   This recipe makes two pans worth.
3. Prepare the pasta:
   I presoak the pasta, to save cooking fuel.
   Nest, instead of canned/jarred spaghetti sauce, I add either sun dried tomatoes (shredded), or about half a can of diced/stewed/crushed tomatoes, directly to the pot.
   I bring it all to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
   It takes roughly half as long as traditional preparation, and uses much less water.

Normally, I measure the quinoa into my Thermos, start boiling the water for the quinoa, then break up the spaghetti (thirds work best with my pot), add tomatoes & water, then set aside.
As soon as the water boils, I immediately add it to my Thermos, close it, shake vigorously, then set it aside.
I can safely leave both (Thermos & covered pasta pot) to Do Their Thing, while I focus on other tasks. :)

Typically for me, it's several hours between starting the quinoa & pasta pre-soaks, and preparing the "entire" meal.

Pictures:

All dry ingredients, ready to mix:

After adding egg and mixing:

Balls after cooking for 2 1/2 hours in the crockpot:

(they tasted fine, but just weren't "crispy")

Balls fried:

(definitely "crispy"!)

Spaghetti cooked with canned diced tomatoes (with barely enough water to cover the pasta, but turned out great):

Spaghetti cooked with sun dried tomatoes and just enough water to cover the pasta plus a finger-ish width:

Final, ready to eat (crockpot balls with sun dried tomatoes):