Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs
These parmesan baked fava bean chips are a crispy, crunchy snack idea – perfect for entertaining, or for a nut-free lunchbox snack!
I’m so glad I discovered how to make these little baked fava bean chips. They’re such tasty little nibbles, and can be used in all sorts of ways: everything from a classy appetiser to serve with wine, all the way to the other end of the spectrum, as a fun nut-free snack for your kid’s lunchbox. They’re so easy to make too!
Fava beans (also known as broad beans) are often eaten in their fresh, green form. They’re used all over the world in all sorts of ways (check out this list!).
If you buy fava beans in their dried and split form, when they are small and light brown in colour, they’re perfect for making these crunchy fava bean snacks.
Dried split fava beans actually aren’t the easiest thing to find, at least in the UK, but you can buy them online. I bought these ones* from Amazon – it’s about a fiver for a bag, but one bag is enough to make 4 batches of fava bean chips, so it works out pretty economical overall (cheaper than buying 4 big bags of fancy crisps!).
When fava beans are roasted, they become crispy and crunchy, and a brilliant alternative to potato chips or roasted nuts. I discovered them around Christmas time a few years ago. Every year at that time, we avoid having to make actual meals by surviving solely on little canapés and snacks for about two weeks. And these crispy fava beans are one of my favourite little nibbles!
You can flavour your fava bean chips with anything you like. I used vegetarian parmesan cheese (‘real’ parmesan is made with cow’s rennet, which isn’t veggie), and it works so well. Not only do you get the crunchy beans themselves, but you also get little flecks of crispy parmesan cheese, which brings so much flavour. Is there anything that tastes better than crispy cheese?!
First, boil the dried beans until they’re soft. It takes half an hour or so, so I’d recommend boiling them while you’re doing something else (cooking dinner / cleaning the kitchen / chatting on the phone, etc…), just to save time.
Add some olive oil, and spread the cooked beans out on a baking tray. At this point, you can add plenty of salt and pepper, and whatever dried herbs and spices you fancy.
This time, I just used some mixed Italian-style dried herbs. In the past I’ve used my beloved smoked paprika instead, which also works well (though it does turn the fava bean chips a bit neon orange!).
Roast the fava beans for about 20 minutes, until they’re starting to crisp up. Then add the finely grated parmesan, and mix everything together. This is where the magic happens – pop it back in the oven again, and as the cheese crisps up, it will bring so much amazing flavour to the beans.
After another 15 minutes in the oven, the fava bean chips will be golden brown and crispy all over.
You can eat them warm, straight off the tray (my preferred method, mainly due to my lack of self-control). Or, you can leave them to cool, then store them in an air-tight container until you’re ready to eat.
My daughter’s starting school later this year, so I’m trying to stock up on ideas for nut-free lunchbox snacks. Most schools here don’t allow any nuts in lunchboxes due to potential allergies in the school, and these fava bean chips are a perfect alternative.
They’re nut-free, so able to be packed in school lunchboxes (as well as being suitable for those who suffer from nut allergies, of course). They serve the same function as a bag of crisps, but they’re a nice change, and will keep your child full all afternoon.
They’re also a bit less intensely crunchy than nuts, so less of a choking hazard for young kids.
There are plenty of different ways to serve these fava bean chips. Here are some ideas:
Everyone has their own definition of ‘healthy’, but I’d definitely place these fava bean chips closer to the ‘healthy’ end of my own personal spectrum. They’re like 95% beans, which can’t be bad, right?
And even though I did add some oil and parmesan cheese to my roasted fava beans, they’re a good alternative to the big bag of crisps that I usually crave, while still tasting amazing and totally hitting the ‘crunchy snack’ spot.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/6 of the batch.
The post Parmesan Baked Fava Bean Chips appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.
Don’t you just love it when a recipe is as simple as ‘mix + bake’? No pre-cooking, no unnecessary extra steps – just mix together all of the ingredients, and pop it in the oven. And that’s just the case for these vegetarian lentil meatballs (lentil balls? vegeballs? meatlessballs?). They couldn’t be easier.
Other easy ‘mix and bake’ recipes → easy nut roast; baked fajita rice; Boursin pasta.
I served my lentil balls with spaghetti and tomato sauce – spaghetti and meatballs is such a classic that’s hard to improve on. If you prefer, you could equally serve these vegetarian meatballs with couscous and tzatziki, stuffed into pitta bread, or even just eaten straight from the oven (no judgment here). They’re packed with Mediterranean-inspired flavours, and they’re super versatile.
The basic recipe for these lentil meatballs is canned lentils + flour + egg (the same base I used for my cheesy lentil burgers). Once you’ve got that far, you can jazz things up however you like. I added:
If you like, you could easily switch things up to bring a different flavour profile to your meatballs – maybe you could make a Tex-Mex version, or use some Indian spices, for example.
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Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegetarian meatballs. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
You could certainly mix together the ingredients in advance, and then store the mixture in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or so, until you’re ready to shape and bake the balls. The meatballs are tastiest when freshly baked, but if needed, you could even bake them in advance, and then reheat when you’re ready to eat them.
I didn’t experiment with freezing these balls, but it’s the sort of recipe I have had luck with freezing in the past, so I definitely think it’s worth a try.
The easiest way to reheat these lentil meatballs is in the microwave. They do dry out a little and lose their crispiness when reheated, but they’re still tasty. Alternatively, you could re-crisp them in the oven or air fryer.
I served my meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce, which worked beautifully. You could alternatively serve them stuffed into pitta bread with some tzatziki, or alongside some mashed potato.
The post Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.
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