Tofu & Red Rice "Meatballs"

The best laid plans...

But when life hands you tofu burger mix that won't burgerfy, make meatballs. The mix tastes great but it wasn't keeping it's shape as a burger. I was able to dust with breadcrumbs and gently flip three patties but I knew I wouldn't want to do that for a whole big bowl of mix. Those patties, by the way, made a great scramble! I might make this mix again but leave everything in bigger pieces and just scramble it all.

The mix did make meatballs that held together so I dusted those with breadcrumbs and baked them in a muffin tin that I lightly greased with olive oil. This one was a real experiment but the results taste great. These meatballs will be served with a big salad for a complete meal. You can top them with any kind of sauce you like, or dip them, or just eat them plain.

1 cup bhutanese red rice
1 mushroom boullion cube
1 package firm tofu, drained and pressed
3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
1 onion, diced
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 carrot, diced
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tbsp dried rosemary, ground with mortal & pestle
almost 1 tbsp fennel seed, smashed a bit with mortar & pestle
coarse salt
pepper
couple dashes of ground cumin
2 tsp black bean sauce
few dashes Roland's Balsamic Pepper Sauce
2 eggs
breadcrumbs

Cook the rice and the boullion cube in 1 1/2 cups water until soft. In the meantime, saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrots until there is a nice browness about them. Season this sauteed mix with all of the herbs and spices. Crumble the tofu into a very large bowl. Add the cooled rice. Add the cooled veggie mix. Sprinkle about 1/4 breadcrumbs. Crack in two eggs. Mix with wooden spoon just to incorporate the eggs. Form into balls, lightly dust with breadcrumbs and plop into a muffin tin. Bake until you see some browning on top in an oven pre-heated to 425.