Bonkers for Balls: Vegetarian Feta Balls with Yogurt Sauce



I've always had a soft spot for meatballs. When I was a teenager, one of my favorite meals were sweet and sour meatballs with pineapples and vegetables served over rice. I thought it sounded very gourmet! Then, when I became a vegetarian for ten years, I made tofu balls like crazy. But it's been a while since I've revisited the veggie ball, so when I spied a recipe for "meat balls" on a friend's blog using veggie ground round and feta (one of my favorite salty cheeses), I was intrigued. Plus, it helped that I had most of the ingredients ready to go in my fridge.





The original recipe called for an egg to be mixed into the whole lot. I was out of eggs, so I improvised using a dollop of dijon (tarragon dijon, to be precise). It was delicious and gave these balls a nice flavour kick as well as providing a good bind. I thought these might be delicate so I cooked them in the oven instead of a frying pan, but they really held their shape well, so go ahead and try them in a non-stick skillet if you like.


Toss them with pasta and marinara sauce, or eat 'em like a toddler with a yogurt sauce (recipe below) and some cucumber sticks.



Vegetarian Feta Balls
(adapted from moreterriers)
1 package of veggie ground round
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup well-crumbled feta
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper
splash of hot sauce

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients with a wooden spoon until well mixed.

Use a teaspoon to grab a clump of the mixture and roll it into a ball using your hands. Place balls on a baking tray covered with a silpat sheet or just lightly oil your cookie sheet instead.

Bake for 10 minutes and gently flip and bake until golden brown & crispy, another 10 minutes. Makes about 18 balls. Serve with spiced yogurt sauce.

Spiced Yogurt Sauce
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon aleppo pepper
1/4 teaspoon sumac
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients and serve in a small bowl for dipping.

By Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches

Jan Halvarson

10 comments:

Cool Chic Style Fashion said...

Sono deliziosi ♥ ciao

Ariadne said...

I love seeing recipes abroad with my local ingredients!AriadnefromGreece!

Pinecone Camp said...

Oh those do look good! I love a good veggie meatball, but haven't found a great recipe. This one sounds perfect Jeannette!

NicoleD said...

These look like fun! I like the idea of the yogurt dipping sauce, too.

Loris Glassworks said...

Thanks for sharing, my DH is a vegetarian (I'm not), we are always looking for yummy recipes that we both might like. This sounds good.
Cheers!
Lori

Anonymous said...

OOOH YEAH! Now i know what to try for the weekend lunch. (:

Coco Cake Land said...

Bonkers for Balls... heehee! Jeannette, you're killin' me! These looks delicious... ! yay vegetarian recipes! I want to make these tonight!

Anonymous said...

will definitely be having to try this recipe soon!! looks absolutely amazing. any kind of yogurt sauce is always a good thing.

jonahliza said...

these look and sounds so yummy.. cant wait to try it!

Joanne said...

I've been jonesing for meatballs for a while and in particular spaghetti and meatballs. These little tasty orbs would certainly address the meatball craving. Yum!