Lentil "Meatballs"

Ryan loves pretty much everything I cook.And although he thinks everything tastes delicious, he likes to complain when dishes don't involve red meat.
He doesn't like that I use ground turkey in a lot of things....and he doesn't like when I create "fake meat" dinners.
It's just a mental thing, because if I never told him there was ground turkey in something, he wouldn't know.
A couple nights ago I decided I wanted to use the extra lentils I had from Whole Foods to make "meatballs". Ryan was all about the Italian feast, until he saw me rolling meatless meatballs. I told him to stop being a baby and wait until he tried them before judging.
Halfway through dinner I looked over at him (and his almost empty bowl) and asked if he liked them. He cringed because he knew I was thinking "I told you so".
And so I give you this delicious recipe for Lentil "Meatballs"!They truly were so scrumptious. Even meat lovers will enjoy them.

Lentil "Meatballs"

13 meatballs
Ingredients- 1/2 cup lentils, rinsed- 1 bay leaf- 4oz mushrooms- 1/2 cup chopped onion- 1 tbsp olive oil- 2 cloves garlic, minced- 2 tbsp wine, white or red- 1/2 cup broth, chicken, beef or vegetable- 1 tbsp worchestire sauce- 1/2 cup oats- 1 tsp fennel- 1/2 tsp basil- 1/4 tsp thyme- 1/2 tsp salt- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions1// Place rinsed lentils, the bay leaf and 1 cup of water into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes only. Drain the lentils and throw away the bay leaf.
2// Pour lentils, mushrooms (I used canned), and onions in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped.
3// Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Sautee garlic for a minute. Add the lentil mixture and stir. Cook for 3 minutes. Add in wine and stir until it evaporates. Then mix in the broth (I used chicken), worchestire, oats, and all of the spices.
4// Once the mixture has dried out a bit, remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
5// Remove the bowl from the freezer and make 3 tbsp sized meatballs. Place each meatball in a mini muffin slot. Bake in the oven 40-45 minutes.
6// Serve with pasta and sauce or even on their own with pesto.

Oh yum....
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