| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 12 “meatballs” |
Ingredients
- 6 cups small cubed eggplant, peel left on (from 1 medium eggplant)
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1/2 cup unsalted raw cashews
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 large egg, lightly whisked
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place eggplant in a large mixing bowl and slowly drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir and drizzle in an additional tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Spread on a prepared baking sheet.
- Combine mushrooms and remaining teaspoon oil and spread on remaining baking sheet.
- Bake eggplant and mushrooms 10 minutes, then stir and bake an additional 10 minutes. (Reserve one baking sheet with parchment paper to use again.)
- Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees F.
- Pulse eggplant a few times in a food processor until coarse in texture. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Pulse mushrooms until coarse and add to the same bowl. Pulse cashews until coarse and transfer to bowl. (Processing everything together will make the mixture too mushy; be sure to take the time to process the eggplants, mushrooms and cashews one by one). Add panko, ginger, cilantro, mint, garlic, egg and salt and pepper to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or yours hands to scoop eggplant mixture into 12 balls and arrange on reserved lined baking sheet. Bake until crispy and browned, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 87 |
| Total Fat | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 7 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 16 mg |
| Sodium | 181 mg |
Reviews
These were pretty good
Can you omit the cashews?
This recipe is definitely going into the rotation. I hate eggplant and I still loved these. Perfect “meaty” side in a bowl. Keeps its flavor and texture when I packed it for lunch the next day.
After finishing these, I just did not care for the cashews in them. Initially, I thought these were quite tasty. I had them with rice and teriyaki sauce. I tried soy, dumpling, and teriyaki sauce on three different balls and all were good!
Delicious! My whole family enjoyed it! So much flavor…we will definitely be making this again!
Loved all of the different flavors – the mint, cilantro, garlic! So very delicious! This is a fantastic and different recipe that everyone should try. So good!
Loved! Very versatile. I made them Italian by changing spices to Italian herbs and added a tablespoon of tomato paste. This recipe will definitely be added to our regular rotation of meals.
I have to agree with Patricia R. I was in the kitchen for a long time and really wanted to love this since my husband has to lower his cholesterol and I’m trying to find good meat substitute meals. I made it as written except had to use dried mint. It was just ok and not really worth the work to me.
Rate it as ok. Needed more flavor. Was more work than the dish deserved.
My husband made this recipe for me today. They were delicious! Loved them.