Monday 25 March 2013

Lentil Balls in Tomato Sauce

Hello All
Everything going well in the challenge so far. I find myself missing treats ( biscuits, chocolate etc !!) and some vegetables. I still have money left in the pot so when I have finished the cabbage and carrots I will buy some more and also some red pepper and cauliflower. I'm also missing having a ready supply of eggs, as I usually just use what I need, not buy them !! I shall make some biscuits tomorrow.

Today I made some lentil balls in tomato sauce. These have a mild curry flavour, but they could just as easily have a Mexican or Italian flavour. it is just that my challenge gives me a rather limited palette.
 Here is the recipe, sorry if it is a bit vague, just adapt as suits.

Cook 100g orange lentils in water,  after about 10 mins add half an onion, a stick of celery a carrot and a small potato all grated, add enough water to cover. Cook gently for another 10 minutes. Strain and press, reserving the juice. Turn the oven on to 180o. To the mixture add salt and pepper to taste, a teaspoon of Gram masala and a cup of oats and mix well. Form the mixture into balls, rolled in flour. ( I made 6 large golf ball sized balls from this) Carefully fry the balls in a little oil, turning to ensure a seal. Put these balls in n ovenproof dish.
In the pan you fried the balls in pour the juice from the lentils, wash out your mixture bowl with a little water and add this with half a tin of chopped tomatoes, a pinch of garlic granules and some pepper. You might want to add some more spices at this stage, but if you have a young family you might want the dish a little milder. Bring this mixture to the boil, pour over the meatballs and put, covered into the oven for 20 - 30mins.
 I will be eating this with penne pasta, but you could have it with spaghetti or rice. (In fact any carbs - wish I had done mashed potato now!)

I'll put a picture on the blog tomorrow.

Yesterday I had porridge for breakfast, lentil soup for lunch and macaroni cheese, processed peas and potato wedges for evening meal.
Today it was porridge (which is perfect in this cold weather!) and egg cob for lunch ( Last egg!) and the lentil Balls tonight.
Need to get ready for a meeting now, getting together with a couple of women from out Civic Society who are collecting Oral Histories  from our older residents.. Now THEY know about Frugality !!
Welcome Andrea .
Gill

10 comments:

  1. The balls sound good. I had leftovers from Sunday lunch today, but will be trying these soon.

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    1. Good Luck with them. gave D. a taste and he ended up eating two, so I don't have three spare for another meal!

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  2. We tried our hand at the lentil burgers and even picky daughter ate them. :-) I sent one with hubby to work for lunch. He called and said it warmed up great. He ate his on a bun with a slice of provolone cheese and a bit of mustard. Thank you so much!

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    1. I'm really pleased! What colour lentils did you use?. If picky daughter ate them I think she will probably like the balls too as D. prefers them to the burgers

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  3. Excellent. I keep saying I want to try and find other things to make with lentils - and I always have oats on hand. Must give this a go at the weekend. Want to try the burgers, too. That's how I found your blog actually, from Frugal Graduate's link to that recipe. :)

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    1. Good Luck with both of those. I love Frugal Graduate's blogs

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  4. Can I ask, what happened to make you not have a regular supply of eggs? Did you lose your hens or something ?

    Lentil burgers are yum :-)

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    1. No, still got the hens and plenty of eggs. it's just that when I started this 4 week challenge I decided it would be with shop bought produce, as most people have to do. I even "bought" half a dozen eggs from myself!
      I have also not used any of my own produce.. i.e lamb, rabbit, eggs, veg
      But I must say I will have to buy some more eggs from myself by the weekend. ( I have £8 left from the £28 I allowed myself for the month)

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  5. Ooh, I think I will give this lentil balls a try tonight, they sound very nice, thanks for sharing..

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    1. The best of luck with those. We love them !
      Nice to hear from you
      Gill

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