Swedish Beanballs

There are few comfort foods that can top gravy. It's just good. If I'm going to eat gravy, there needs to be plenty of it and covering everything on the plate. We recently moved to a new home and took a day trip to get new things from IKEA. I love IKEA by the way, affordable while not forsaking quality and they have everything. Not to mention, they have a bangin' cafeteria inside. Any shopping venture that requires a cafeteria before you continue shopping is serious bidness. In the past, I have always chosen the Swedish Meatballs, because hello-there's gravy. We both were tempted to get them this time, and even though we were going to go for a salad, we got them anyway. As we were eating them, he gave me a mission-make vegan Swedish Meatballs. I took Veganomicon's base recipe for beanballs, seasoned and prepared them with my traditional Swedish Meatball recipe. Since meatballs (should be) juicy and soft, we definitely did not miss the meat on this one. I made some mashed potatoes with unsweetened almondmilk, vegan butter, and nutritional yeast to go along with and sauteed up some spinach.

Swedish Beanballs (serves 4)
20 oz of cooked kidney beans

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 T. olive oil
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons steak sauce or tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. lemon zest
1/2 red onion, minced (1/4 if the onion is large)
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of allspice

Place beans in a large bowl. Using a potato masher, mash the beans. You do not want them completely smooth, just enough to be able to form the balls. Add the wheat gluten, bread crumbs, soy sauce, oil, steak sauce, onion, and lemon. Mix again with a spatula. You may need to use your hands to thoroughly combine. Season with the nutmeg and allspice and mix again. Roll into 1 1/2" balls. If the balls are too big then the consistency will be off.

Heat a large skillet with enough oil to cover the bottom over medium heat. Add the balls and cook 10 minutes. Turn and cook another 10-15 minutes or until brown and slightly crispy on both sides. Drain and set aside.

Vegan Gravy
4 Tablespoons Vegan Butter (I use Earth Balance)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 cup vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth (I use Edward & Son's Not-Chick'n Boullion Cubes)
1/4 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti)
Black pepper to taste

In a skillet, heat the butter until melted and bubbling. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Very slowly, teaspoon at a time, add the sour cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the beanballs to the pan and turn off the heat. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.