Meatless Meatball Subs

Joe's got night class on Tuesdays, so that means I can eat whatever I want--even if we just had it a few days ago.

I'm in love with these meatless meatball subs from Rachel Ray. The meatballs are made by grinding up almonds, chickpeas, and mozzarella. The taste and texture are excellent (firm and flavorful) and they aren't as greasy as real meatballs.

We prefer to use half the suggested amount of lemon zest. I also throw in some Italian seasoning.

Find the full recipe here. 

I can't wait to try out variations with different beans, cheeses, and nuts!

               

Sweet Potato Shrimp Curry

Tonight's dinner turned out exactly like a lot of them do. It started out with a recipe, and then depending on what ingredients I like/don't like or have/don't have, it transformed into something very far from the original.

I started with a recipe for Coconut Curried Crab from The Newlywed Kitchen, a really nice cookbook I got from my friend Sarah. 

Coconut Curried Crab sounded good, but we were in more of a shrimp mood. And I could only justify buying half a pound of shrimp (instead of the recipe's one pound of crab-meat), so I threw in some sweet potato and baby corn. I also didn't have a tablespoon of fresh ginger, so I substituted ginger powder. And, because we don't have any tumeric or garam masala lying around, I used curry powder instead, hoping they might be included. I also omitted the brown sugar because the coconut milk seemed to add enough sweetness already. But, you know, that's all. Just some small changes. :)

We enjoyed this over jasmine rice, which we began cooking before starting on the curry. Here's my altered recipe:


Sweet Potato Shrimp Curry
3-4 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard or mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2-6 small red chiles depending on your heat preferences 

1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced 

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

2/3 cup coconut milk 

1/2 pound of cooked shrimp, thawed (I used large prawns and cut mine into thirds)

1 cup baby corn, cut into bite-sized pieces  

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Fresh-squeezed lime juice (I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons)

Directions

1.  Place the sweet potato pieces into a medium sauce pan, cover with water, boil until tender, and drain the water. 
2. While your potatoes are cooking, add the vegetable oil to a large skillet, and over medium to medium-high heat, saute the mustard seeds for 1 minute. (My burners overheat, so I used medium heat to avoid burning and extreme oil splattering).  
3. Add the onion, ginger, and chiles into the pan and saute for 5-6 minutes or until the onion is golden brown.
4. Add the coconut milk and curry powder and stir until mixed well. 
5. Add the shrimp, potato, and baby corn, simmering  2-3 minutes or until everything is heated
6. Stir in salt, pepper, and lime juice.

Serve over rice and top with Greek yogurt, which adds a great tang. We also had some flatbread!