Swedish plant balls (Köttbullar-INSPIRED)
🥖🗑️🤔 Did you know that 35% of all CO2 emissions are produced during the entire bread-making process? An estimated 40% of bread produced every year is wasted in the home, which means that for every loaf of bread eaten, half a loaf is thrown away. By making small changes at home like Grandma Sita, turning bread surplus into edible and nutritious plant-based bites will keep ourselves and the planet healthy.
🌱🇸🇪 Annike joined A Grandchild in My Kitchen, Grandma Sita’s plant-based cooking challenge, and they cook delicious Swedish-style veggieballs made from leftover bread like most traditional food the ingredients are simple but the outcome is wonderful.
🧆😋 This easy plant-based recipe is inspired by the popular Köttbullar which is a classic Swedish dish. There is no standard recipe, each Swedish family adjusts the recipe and twitches it a bit according to their taste buds.
INGREDIENTS
1 small broccoli, grated
2 small aubergines, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 tray of mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch of spring onion, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper
2 half rye bread, soaked
*In Scandinavia, it is relatively cold, so grain-like rye is much better suited for the climate. So that means we commonly use rye flour, most commonly in bread.
FOR THE SALAD
2 apples, chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 cucumber, chopped
1 fennel, chopped
Balsamic dressing (optional)
Salt and pepper
METHOD
1. Wash all vegetables well. Chop aubergines, bell peppers, mushrooms, spring onion, and parsley. Grate the flowering head of the broccoli (couscous-sized granules), and peel chop the stalk.
2. Cut the rye bread into cubes and soak them in an oat drink.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a pot. Sauté all chopped veggies until soft and add soaked rye bread. Mix until well combined. Season with salt, and pepper.
4. Pour the mix into a bowl, add chopped parsley (optional), and roll into small balls, with a diameter of about 2 or 3 centimeters. Coat them with breadcrumbs, for an added crunch (optional).
5. Lay the veggie-balls on a baking tray and bake them for about 20 minutes/200C.
6. Optional step: Heat a tablespoon of veggie oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the baked veggie-balls and fry on both sides, for about 3 minutes each until brown.
7. Serve delicious veggie-balls with salad, mashed potatoes, or anything else you like, and Bon appetite!
👵💚 Grandma Sita’s tips:
*Leftover bread can be soaked in some liquid (oat drink) and puffs up when cooked, making these veggie-balls extra soft and juicy. It has just the right consistency, and an amazing taste and will be loved by adults and children alike!
*You can change the recipe according to your taste, so have fun experimenting, but don’t forget to cook up some complementary plant-based food like salad or mashed potatoes.
📗Traditionally, Köttbullar (meatballs) are served with potatoes or pasta and rårörda lingon (lingonberry jam). Sometimes a pickled vegetable such as cucumber, or pressgurka (pressed cucumber) may be added on the side. As for the occasion, Swedish meatballs may be considered a festive food; you’ll surely find it on any Swedish table during a holiday or a celebration. There’s even a Christmas version of meatballs called julköttbullar, and you’d bake these rather than fry them.
🌎 Globally, almost 900,000 tonnes of bread are wasted annually, that’s around 24 million slices every day. Let’s not add to that statistic by making delicious veggie-balls made from leftover bread that will keep ourselves and the planet healthy.