Neatball Subs!

What a surprisingly pleasant experience it is the cook up a huge batch of "neatballs" and not have the tell-tale grease stank linger in the kitchen all night!!  The little buggers turned out great, and even got the hubby's stamp of approval :) 

I doubled the recipe and froze half.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked short grain brown rice
1 - 16 oz can drained/rinsed red kidney beans
1/2 cup favorite salsa
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 cups marinara  
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Hoagie rolls 

Put the rice, beans, salsa (yes, salsa...  I thought this was weird- I mean why not marinara, these are Italian flavors, right?? Turns out the salsa works pretty well here), and spices into the food processor and mush it all up.  It's amazing how much this mixture really does look (and feel) like meat at this point.  So much so that even though I knew it wasn't, it still grossed me out a little.  Maybe I'm just traumatized from so many years of having to touch real meat...

Next, put a little olive oil in a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  Cook up the neatballs, turning until all sides are goody and crispy.  Remove from the skillet and put on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain.

Heat the broiler on the Low setting and toast your buns for 2 minutes.
Remove the buns and add 3 neatballs to each, top with a couple spoonfuls of sauce and some shredded mozzarella.  Return to the broiler for 3 minutes. Consume.

 

Recipe adapted from: http://www.thecoloradowave.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=70