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So You Can Use Real Food to Lose Weight Without Dieting? – I Knew It!

So You Can Use Real Food to Lose Weight Without Dieting Meila Tahril

I’ll probably never write a book on healthy eating (I know, you’re shocked), but if I did, I’d like to think it would be similar to “Foodist,” the new book by my friend, and favorite neuroscientist, Darya Pino Rose. I’ve never been able to articulate it as well as Ms. Summer Tomato, but have always believed that delicious food is the solution, not the problem; and that relying solely on willpower to change behavior never works, for anything.

Genetically predisposed appearances to the contrary, I live a relatively healthy lifestyle (or “healthstyle” as it’s referred to in the book). I’m quite active, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and generally stay away from processed foods. At this advanced age, I know what makes my body and mind feel good, and I try to eat as many of those foods as possible.

Of course, I’ve based most of my personal eating theories on intuition and anecdotal evidence, so it was nice having someone who actually understands all this stuff explain the science behind it. Besides learning why all those diets you tried didn’t work (spoiler alert: it wasn’t your fault), the smartly organized book is chock full of great tips and techniques, presented in an entertaining, often irreverent style.

I really did enjoy the book, and despite my complete lack of objectivity, I would enthusiastically recommend it to others. For more information, you can follow this link to Amazon, where the book is getting rave reviews (by people who actually paid for it). Enjoy!

Avocado Tomatillo Salsa – A Simple Green Sauce for Summer

This spectacularly simple green sauce may be the perfect summer condiment. It requires no cooking, only takes minutes, looks gorgeous, and tastes amazing with anything grilled, and most things not.

It’s also great for treating a bad sunburn. That’s right, just serve this and chips along with three or four margaritas, and the victim will feel significantly better in no time.

I will admit this is a sauce I take for granted. I’m lucky enough to live near San Francisco’s Mission District, and there are hundreds of taquerias and restaurants, all of which feature some type of fresh, green salsa. Each place uses a slightly unique combination of ingredients, but I’ve never had one I didn’t enjoy.

Not all contain avocado, but I really like the addition since it adds a wonderful richness, and the extra fat helps carry the other flavors around. As you’ll see next week, this was delicious on some pork tacos, but there are so many other amazing options. Try it on scrambled eggs, use it as a relish for sausage, or as a dip for fried-anything. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 1 1/4 cups:

1 generous cup sliced tomatillos (about 6 oz by weight)

*Note: if you can’t find fresh, you can use canned tomatillos in a pinch

1 tbsp minced Serrano pepper, or to taste

1 large ripe avocado

1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves

1/2 lime, juiced

salt to taste

Fondant Potatoes – A Creamy Crusty Blast from the Past

Every once in a while I get a food wish that instantly takes me back to culinary school. Things like aspic (not happening), larding a tenderloin (not happening), and pulled sugar always transport me back to those demos where the instructors fully admitted that we’d probably never use these skills, but since they were considered “classic techniques,” we’d have to spend time covering them anyway. Sure, makes perfect sense.

This fabulous fondant potato technique is a prime example. Made them a few times in school and loved them. Made them a few times at a hotel early in my career and loved them. Haven’t made them since, and not exactly sure why. They taste amazing, and as I try to make clear in the video, the texture this method provides is unlike anything you get by just roasting. The way the crusty, crunchy edges outside, works with the uniquely rich and creamy inside is truly a magical thing.

I just think that we’re so used to the usual rotation of potato side dishes; fried, roasted, mashed, etc., that it’s hard to push ourselves to do a potato recipe that has multiple steps. In fairness, the multiple steps are super easy, but still. Anyway, if you’ve never experienced the old world awesomeness that is the fondant potato, I hope this video inspires you to try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 fondant potatoes:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 large russet potatoes (other varieties will not work as well)

salt and pepper to taste

a knob of butter (a 2 or 3 tablespoon size chunk)

4 thyme sprigs

1/2 cup chicken broth or stock, more if needed
*Roast at 425 F until tender, about 30 minutes

S’more Ice Cream Pie – Who’s Your Daddy’s Favorite Celebrity Dessert Chef?

Trick question; he doesn’t have one. That type of thing is more for women and food bloggers. In fact, your dad may not even have a favorite dessert, but if he had to pick one, I think a lot of fathers would go with s’mores – the campfire classic that inspired this frozen Father’s Day dessert.

S’mores are a simple, yet brilliant treat that represents everything most males, dads or otherwise, seem to love. It’s made over a crackling fire, the building of which triggers the release of all kinds of manly neurotransmitters in the brain. The same goes for sharpening sticks with knives, impaling things, and burning stuff.

And while you’re not experiencing those primitive pleasures here (except for the blowtorch, which is never not awesome), I think just the connection with the venerable s’more alone will be enough to have dad loving this pie.

If not, there’s always the crispy, buttery graham crackers, chocolate ice cream, and toasted marshmallows to make him proud of you anyway. Whether you make this for Father’s Day dessert or not, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp melted butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (28-oz) container chocolate ice cream

2-3 handfuls mini marshmallows, or enough to cover the top

How to Butterfly, Stuff, Roll, and Tie a Pork Roast Like a Celebrity Butcher

Butterfly, Stuff, Roll, and Tie a Pork Roast Like a Celebrity Butcher - Like almost all the videos I do, this tutorial for how to butterfly, stuff, roll, tie, and roast a pork loin was inspired by a viewer’s request. However, this was NOT your typical food wish, as it came via Chris LaFrieda, from the celebrated Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors!

That’s right. America’s most famous butchers are fans of the channel, and asked me if I wanted to do a video with some of their fabulous meat. After carefully considering the offer for two or three seconds, I agreed, and we decided to show their technique for a rolled, stuffed, caul-fat-wrapped pork loin.

Not only do the LaFrieda’s star in their own TV show, "Meat Men," but their client list is a who’s who of the country’s top chefs. Their custom burger mixes are legendary, with the most famous being the Minetta Tavern’s “Black Label Burger.” Basically, if you’ve not heard of Pat LaFrieda Meats, you need to turn in your foodie card right now.

I tried my best to adapt their technique for the home kitchen, and as you’ll see, there really isn’t anything that even an average home cook couldn’t accomplish. For example, the butterflying may not look very elegant with all those slash marks, but in the end it will look amazing, and is a bit easier than the pro method.

As far as the caul fat wrap goes, you’ll need to go past the supermarket meat case, and talk to a real butcher. Anyone that can get you a large pork loin roast, like the one we used here, will be able to get you a half-pound of caul fat. It really is one of the keys to this procedure.

Pork loin is so lean, and by covering it in a thin layer of caul fat, you’re adding lots of moisture, as well as another layer of flavor. I highly suggest you find some, and if you don’t use it all for your roast, it makes a perfect casing for some sausage patties.

Anyway, a very special thank you to Chris LaFrieda, and the rest of the LaFrieda family for the opportunity to share this great technique. I hope you enjoy the video, and it gives you the confidence to try this exciting technique soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
5-6 pound boneless pork loin roast, butterflied as shown

salt and pepper to taste (be generous, that’s a lot of meat)

3 cups any prepared bread stuffing recipe (ones with herbs and dried fruit will be particularly delicious)

caul fat, as needed

1 sliced onion for the roasting pan

Roast at 450 degrees F. for 15 minutes to sear.

Reduce heat to 325 degrees F. for about 1 1/2 hour OR until an internal temperature of 140 degrees F.

Pan Sauce Note: Once you remove the roast, you can add a splash of water to the pan, along with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar if desired. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, scrapping the goodness from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Season to taste, and spoon over sliced meat.

Barbecue Shrimp – So Good, and So Not Barbecued

Barbecue Shrimp – So Good, and So Not Barbecued - No one’s really sure why this magnificent dish is called barbecue shrimp, but since it was invented in New Orleans, let’s just assume they had a great reason, and move on to more important issues, like making and eating a huge plate of these.

There are countless ways to make this dish, almost all containing copious amounts of butter, along with garlic, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. This is not something you’d serve to your friend with the bland palate. By the way, can’t believe you’re still friends with that bland palate dude.

Anyway, feel free to adjust and adapt to your heart’s content. My version is fairly light, which is kind of funny to say, since I call for half a stick of butter, but I’ve seen versions that were basically deep-fried in the stuff. So, you know, compared to that, this is like spa food.

As far as seasoning goes, be careful with the salt. The Worcestershire is pretty salty, so you may not want to add it all to the shrimp stock like I did. I used about 3 generous tablespoons, since I like mine pretty salty, but it’s probably safer to just add 1 or 2 tablespoons, and then taste/adjust later on.

Other than that, and finding some colossal shrimp (the bigger the better), this recipe is a breeze. It may not have anything to do with barbecue, but like its namesake, it’s incredibly delicious and another great culinary gift from the south. I hope you try some soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds colossal shrimp

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp Old Bay seasoning, optional

4 tbsp cold butter, cut in cubes

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups shrimp stock (using reserved shells, sauteed in 1 tsp butter, and simmered with 2 cups stock or water for 20-30 min)
juice of 1 lemon
hot sauce to taste

2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, or to taste

lots of white rice

Learn to Make Web Design by Simple

Learn to Make Web Design by Simple - On this occasion I want to share a little tutorial how to make a website easily, I've tried it as an assignment from my school that requires me and my friends gather web design on my teacher. I am not here to make the website of the enol but looking template which there are many on the internet and edit it for free and just live a little. For that I would to love a little tutorial for you as follows:

Materials and Tools:

Dreamweaver CS3
Web Templete ready-made, and can look it up on the internet.
Browser For Trying / design Looking at the results.
and XAMPP local server for web applications.

The trick is as follows:

Download XAMPP advance (here)
Then diinsttal XAMPPnya to be functioning properly.
Install Dreamweaver CS 3 if you do not have search the internet, sorry I did not provide the download link.
Open Dreamweaver CS3 and create a site that in linkkan to localhost on file in the directory htdoc XAMMP, it is to make it easier to edit html files and others.
Extrac web file that you downloaded in the folder in the XAMPP directory htdoc.
Open the directory with Dreamweaver CS3 and click one of the files that you want to edit.
And please edit as you like and with creative as possible.
Completed.

That's all from me this article may be useful for you :)

Those Other Tortillas

I know we've done flour tortillas on the blog, but I've not yet attempted the far more intimidating corn version. Why do they scare me so? I'm not sure, but it's a real problem. Anyway, one of these days I'll muster up the courage to give it a go, but in the meantime, here's a demo from my buddies at Allrecipes.com showing the basic method. Can it really be this easy? Enjoy!

A Humbling Strawberry Rhubarb Reminder

I was checking Twitter mentions last week, and saw that a viewer by the name of

nguyen4 had posted a strawberry rhubarb pie photo on Instagram (left), and credited me for the recipe. At first, I thought they were mistaken, as I didn’t recognize the pie as one of my creations, but then I realized that was because they’d made it so much better looking than mine. I hate/love when that happens.

Anyway, once I got over this blow to my ego, I decided to repost this in case you missed it the first time, or just needed a little reminder as to what a fantastic spring pie this really is. Enjoy!

Strawberry Granita – So Forking Refreshing

We never had air conditioning growing up, and the closest we’d get was a visit to the refrigerator. You’d open the door, and let the cool air wash over you, as you pretended to look for something to eat. Of course, after a few glorious minutes, mom would figure out what was going on, and yell to close the door. I wish I had known about this strawberry granita recipe back then.

You can make and serve this gorgeous granita any time, but it’s really best enjoyed during the summer months. Not only because it’s cold and delicious, but also because it forces you to stick your hot, sweaty face in the freezer four or five times to stir. It’s such a bracing and refreshing experience that I almost feel sorry for people that do have AC. Almost.

Besides a welcomed respite from the heat, this mandatory, periodical forking creates the dessert’s signature texture. By breaking up the ice crystals as the granita freezes, you’ll get what looks exactly like ground granite, which is where this sweet treat’s name actually comes from.

I know it’s still early spring, but strawberries are beautiful right now, so why not practice a few times before the serious heat waves hit? By the way, let me be the first one to say it to you this year…it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 servings:
(Note: Yes, this will work with other fruit and berry purees)

2 pounds strawberries

1 cup water

1/3 to 1/2 cup white sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)
(Note: I've not tried other types of sweeteners)

1/4 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

very small pinch of salt
*Note: freezing times will vary greatly depending on how cold, empty, large, etc., your freezer is. Just keep checking and forking!

You Can Count on Monte Cristo Benedict for Mother’s Day Brunch

I always get a ton of food wishes this time of year for creative brunch ideas, and I was thinking about doing some new type of eggs Benedict, when I happened to see a photo of a Monte Cristo sandwich. At first, it just made me want a Monte Cristo sandwich, but after that wore off, I started thinking about how I’d seen these topped with fried eggs before.

Long story short, I decided to simply make an open-faced version of the famous stuffed sandwich, and top it with poached eggs, and hopefully a new American brunch classic was born. Of course, I'll let you decide, but there was nothing I didn’t love about this plate of food. Okay, the salad was kind of phoned in, but the rest was awesome.

The base is a variation of our famous Restaurant Style French Toast recipe, which marries perfectly with the ham, cheddar and havarti. It was so tasty you really don’t even need the poached eggs. Actually, forget I said that. Do the eggs. If only so you can pop those yolks, and watch them run. Besides the eating, that has to be the best part.

I’ve also re-posted a poached eggs demo below, since poaching your eggs ahead of time is the only way to go, especially if you have a larger group. By the way, you can hold the Monte Cristo bases in a warm oven while you pull the rest of the meal together. I hope you give this new Benedict a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

For the batter:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup cream

1 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp allspice

4 thick slices of French bread
1 tbsp butter

8 slices ham

4 slices cheddar cheese

4 slices havarti cheese

8 poached eggs

chive to garnish

How to Poach Eggs

Lemon Bars for a Lasting Mother’s Day Impression

Mother’s Day is coming up, and since so many of you brave souls will be attempting a celebratory brunch, I thought I’d post this much-requested lemon bars recipe, in case things don’t go as smoothly as anticipated.

Preparing brunch can be tricky anytime, let alone under mom’s watchful (aka “extremely concerned”) eyes. Can someone please get her a mimosa and walk her into the garden?

So, even if a few poached eggs break, or the toast gets a little too golden-black, no worries! If you finish the meal with these gorgeous, and absolutely impossible to mess-up lemon bars, she'll be as proud as she will be impressed. Our moms may have taught us the importance of a good first impression, but its America’s restaurateurs who discovered the importance of a delicious last impression. There's nothing like a well made pastry to make one forgive a tough steak.

Other than a baking dish, there’s no special equipment or techniques required. Both the shortbread base and the lemon custard take only minutes, and are simply hand-mixed in a bowl.

Basically, if you can move your arm in a circle, and effectively set a timer (there’s one on your phone), your lemon bars should look just as good as these (maybe better – see meringue note below). Anyway, whether you’re going to make these for Mother’s Day or not, I hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 16 Small Lemon Bars:

For the shortbread crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup room temp unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Bake crust at 350 degrees F. for 22 minutes

For the lemon layer:

2 large whole eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp grated lemon peel

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes

Garnish with powdered sugar; or top with *meringue (the extra egg white whipped with 1 tablespoon of sugar) and brown with torch.

*My Meringue
If you decide to turn these into lemon meringue bars, do yourself a favor and actually measure the sugar. I couldn’t be bothered to check a recipe, so I only tossed in a teaspoon of sugar, and it should be closer to a tablespoon. The technique is the same; beat the extra white to the ribbon stage (where drips of white stay on the surface for a few seconds), and then add the sugar and continue whipping until you have nice, glossy peaks. My “by eye” batch worked fine, but it was a little too dry, and not quite sticky enough. Be advised.

Chilled Sugar Snap Pea Soup – Ain't Nuthin' But a "P" Thang, Baby!

I’ve never been a big cold soup fan. Where I’m from, cold soup gets sent back, but over the years I’ve grown to appreciate things like gazpacho, vichyssoise, and…that’s about it. Well, thanks to this gorgeous chilled sugar snap pea soup, my repertoire just expanded in a very delicious way.

Traditionally (from what I hear), chilled pea soups are made with English peas, but thanks to the very user-friendly sugar snap, not only is there no shelling involved here, but I think they impart an even sweeter flavor. Speaking of sweet flavor, you’re going to want to contrast that by garnishing with some sour cream or crème fraiche. If you can’t get or have that, then use a few drops of lemon juice or rice vinegar to balance the flavors.

As far as the mint goes though, I’d make every effort to obtain some, as I can’t imagine another herb pairing as well. Lastly, the Snoop Dogg reference in the title foreshadows a Snoop Dogg reference made during the garnishing portion of the video. For more information, ask your kids. I hope you give this lovely, spring soup a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 6 cups of soup:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup sliced leeks

4 cups chicken broth

salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

1 pound sugar snap peas

2 mint leaves

crème fraiche or sour cream, and more fresh mint to garnish.

How to Increase Weight Loss with Quick and Natural

How to Increase Weight Loss with Fast and Naturally - Operating weight gain is sometimes necessary in certain situations where we are required to increase the portion weight as appropriate. Examples are struggling in the world of sports, or who are basically want to gain weight because of the portion of the body is too skinny.

Below are some tips to gain weight naturally can quickly you can easily practice on the sidelines during daily activities.

Simple tips to gain weight

Eating foods with a high calorie diet and protein such as eggs, fish, meat, vegetables, dairy, protein supplements, fruits, bananas etc..

Beverage can help you to gain weight as well. Like, drink shakes, milk soda, juice, etc.. Instead of water, coffee, instead of water, coffee, tea and diet.

Increase your protein intake. Your body needs a lot of protein to build new muscle. But since most of the calories for weight gain comes from carbohydrates and fats, do not replace them with protein.

Weight training helps convert calories into muscle.

Eat regularly with a great meal and snack 3X every day.

Adding a portion of the normal portion of food.

Eat eat high-calorie foods.

Add healthy unsaturated fats such as olive oil, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, and avocado.

Healthy foods to gain weight

1. Eggs
Eggs are known as the highest source of protein and fat. An egg contains about 5-6 grams of protein. Besides easy to find, the price of eggs is also relatively inexpensive.

Egg yolks contain monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are good for both the body and also half of the total egg protein, essential amino acids, and vitamins.

2. Minced Beef
Ground beef is better than meat intact as it contains 6-7 grams of protein / gram. Fat depends on the fat content of the meat itself, which obviously these foods help you gain weight.

3. Dairy
We know dairy products as a source of their nutrition. This product contains 8-9 grams of protein and fat per cup which helps to gain muscle weight at the same time.

4. Peanut butter
Peanut butter is one of the cheapest, easiest, and effectively increase the appetite for bulking phase. Contains 6 grams of protein and 16 grams of saturated fat per 2 tablespoons.

5. Potato
To gain muscle and weight easily, try to consume foods high in carbohydrates. Potatoes are one of the best for a high carbohydrate diet, about 25-30 grams of carbohydrates to help build muscle mass faster.

6. Oats
Oats are one of the best sources of carbohydrates. Cup of oats contains 50 grams of carbohydrates and 6 grams of fiber. Fiber can help improve digestive health.

7. Whey Protein
Average whey protein contains 25 grams of protein per serving. Apart from being effective supplements increase muscle mass, whey protein supplement is also considered as an economical weight gain.

8. Bananas
Bananas are a high source of carbohydrates than potatoes and wheat. Combine the banana and whey protein consumption after exercise routine as a solution to increase the weight and muscle mass.

9. Olive Oil
Olive oil is a source of nourishing oils and sources of polyunsaturated fats are economical. Mix the olive oil with a salad or other dishes.

10. Tuna fish
Canned tuna is a highly nutritious food that is easily obtainable in the market. With a protein content of 25 grams of tuna make good food to gain weight.

To gain weight, you have to get a well balanced nutrition and intensive exercise. To meet your nutritional needs, consume foods weight gain above and enter in the daily diet you.

Well, so first quick tips on how to gain weight. Please apply and may be useful.

Homemade with Love Miela Tahril

This garlic and basil mayonnaise recipe was inspired by my friend Jennifer Perillo's fabulous new cookbook, Homemade with Love. As a longtime admirer of In Jennie's Kitchen, I expected her cookbook to be filled amazing recipes and gorgeous pictures, and it certainly was, but what I didn’t expect was to see my name and this blog mentioned on page 229!

That’s right, on Jennifer’s homemade mayonnaise recipe, we were credited with the always-impressive immersion blender method seen herein. She even called me a genius, which is obviously a very, very slight exaggeration. I feel kind of guilty since I didn’t invent this technique, but since I don’t remember who showed me, it’s just going to be easier to take credit.

Jennifer and I have very similar tastes, and if you like my videos I’m fairly sure you’ll love this book. I really enjoy when a cookbook author shares little stories and anecdotes to introduce the recipes, and she’s done that throughout.

To understand where a recipe comes from, and why it’s being shared, always makes it more fun to cook and savor. That’s why I talk so much during my videos. Anyway, for more info, follow this link to Amazon where Homemade with Love is enjoying rave reviews. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 1 1/2 cups Garlic and Basil Mayonnaise:

(will last about 3-5 days)
1 cup basil leaves
3 cloves finely minced garlic
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste
cayenne and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil or a lighter tasting olive oil (or a combination of the two)
*For regular plain mayo, I generally recommend a neutral tasting vegetable oil like canola.

How to Learn English Being Fun

Learn How to Become a Good English - On this occasion Miela-tahril.blogspot.com intending to share a tips for friends who are hard to learn English but want to learn. These tips are very simple and easy in practice.

Dr. Paul Pimsleur, in his book "How to Learn a Foreign Language" suggests that to learn a foreign language should begin with learning the most required in communication, not to get stuck studying teaching materials are full of grammar theory (grammatical).

Repeat / Imitate what is heard, this step is to train our concentration on Pronunciation (pronunciation). This can be practiced when I heard the song, news, or foreign films. To facilitate mimic / repeat English sentences, we can use existing video song lyrics, this video we can easily find on youtube. For news, one of which we can see a video of VOA Learning English. When looking at foreign films do not wear subtittle with our language, wear subtittle with English. nah, to learn English here that's not boring is not it?

Remember vocabulary (vocabulary), from what we have heard and say look senses of the word / sentence. It would be easy to find the meaning of a word by word in the dictionary, but for certain terms can be an obstacle in translating meaning.

A few of this article, it is very easy not. Remains a passion for learning English :)

Meatless Meatballs! Celebrating the Magical Meatiness of Mushrooms on Earth Day

I’ve wanted to turn our famous veggie burger recipe into a meatless meatballs recipe for a long time now, and figured there would be no more appropriate occasion than Earth Day to reveal the results. After all, as I joke about in the clip, eating mushrooms is about as close to literally consuming the earth as you can get.

Despite being completely free of meat, at least the animal kind, these “meatballs” were fantastic. Thanks to a thorough browning, the mushrooms provided more than enough savoriness, and the garlic, cheese, and parsley did the rest. As impressive as I thought the taste was, what really blew me away was how close the texture was to actual meatballs.

For me, the true test of any alternative meatless recipe is whether I would eat it again, based on taste and texture alone, and not just because it’s meatless. In this case, I would…many times over. No, I’m not giving up real meatballs, but for a delicious and vegetarian-friendly change of pace, these really were tremendous.

So, whether you're going to make these because you’re a vegetarian who has been searching for a meatless version, or you’re a hard-core meat eater who just can’t believe your ears and eyes, I hope you give these a try soon. Have a happy Earth Day, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients for 16 small meatballs:

(recipe can easily be doubled!)

1 pound white mushrooms, chopped into very small pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

pinch of salt to sauté mushrooms

1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup minced onions

4 minced garlic cloves

1/2 cup instant oatmeal

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

packed 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1 ounce by weight, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, very finely grated on a microplane

(Note: it looks like a ton of cheese in the video, but it was only 1-oz. Because I used a microplane to grate it, it created a huge looking pile of cheese. It would be about 1/2 cup if you measure, but use weight for this ingredient!)

1 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper and cayenne to taste
pinch of dried oregano

2 eggs

3 cups of your favorite pasta sauce.

*Let mixture sit overnight in fridge. Bake meatballs for 12-15 at 450 degrees F., then simmer in sauce for 30-60 minutes before serving.