Mushroom and Black Bean 'Meat' balls

Today's recipe is a little different from my usual recipes- I do plenty of veggie recipes, and some recipes which may involve meat, but not so much a crossover between the two like I have today with these mock 'meat' balls made from a combination of mushroom and black beans!

Mock meats are quite prominent in Asian culture, regardless of whether you are vegetarian or not. I can't say I'm a huge fan, especially as I find that they're not do cooked the right way most of the time, but I was keen to try this recipe because it
a) actually looked very similar to meatballs in the picture and
b) I had just fresh mushrooms in the fridge and a can of black beans that were almost reaching their expiry.

So why not?

The recipe itself is very straight forward- blend and mix is all you have to do with the handful of ingredients before rolling into balls and baking. The original recipe suggested serving the meatballs with tomato sauce, but since I was in the process of clearing my pantry, I thought I would use up my can of Chakalaka (also reaching it's expiry), which was an impulse buy from Aldi earlier last year. And as if that wasn't enough veggies already, I thought I'd add in some extra chopped veggies and serve the dish with zucchini noodles for a veggie packed meal!

And the result?

Delicious as the pictures may look, unfortunately I have to say that I was disappointed by the texture of the final product. Whilst I wasn't expecting anything like the texture meat, the 'meat' balls were super soft and almost mushy and I couldn't help thinking that the dish would probably have worked out better if I had kept the mushroom and black beans in their original state.

The remaining components were delicious though, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to purchase the tin of Chakalaka again but perhaps I'll stick to real meatballs next time!

Mushroom and Black Bean 'Meat' Balls Recipe
Recipe from The Fit Foodie Mama
Makes ~20 balls

400g can of black beans, drained and rinsed
220g mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
2. Place black beans, mushrooms, bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper and seasonings into large bowl.
3. Mash all ingredients together until thoroughly combined.
4. Grease muffin tin with olive oil or butter. Roll mixture into appropriate size balls and place in muffin tin.
5. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes, being careful not to let them dry out.
6. Remove from oven and serve along with your choice of sauce.