Raw Beetballs

I made these the other day with my husband. The recipe is from Vegnews Magazine the October issue (page 78) by Gena Hamshaw. I have indicated which items we used that are organic (the original recipe did not specify organic or not).

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chopped o. Portabello mushrooms
2 TBLS apple cider vinegar
2 TBLS o. tamari
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 2/3 cup o. sunflower seeds, divided
1/2 cup shredded, raw  o. beets
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


In a medium size bowl add mushrooms. In a small bowl mix together the vinegar, tamari and maple syrup. Pour over the mushrooms and marinate for at least 2 hours. I kept stirring them every once in a while to make sure all the mushroom pieces were soaked in the marinade.
  
In a food processor, process 1 cup of the sunflower seeds until finely ground. Drain the marinated mushrooms and add to the food processor with the sunflower seeds you just ground up, beets, garlic, oregano, nutritional yeast, salt & pepper, and the remaining 2/3 cup of sunflower seeds. Process until combined.  

Place mixture in the fridge for an hour. Remove and shape into 2 inch balls.  John and I shaped the balls & placed on a cookie sheet before refrigerating, that way the shape really solidified. 

 We used our favorite pasta sauce on top.  I had mine with zucchini noodles (raw zucchini spiralized) and John had his with angel hair pasta.  

I enjoyed the beetballs raw but I really liked them cooked. The next day I placed leftovers in the oven at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes total. I flipped them over around 25 minutes and baked for 10 more minutes.  Athan loved them cooked too!

Next time  I would grind up 1 1/3 of the sunflower seeds and leave only 1/3 for the second processing. I like the finer ground sunflower taste.