Franklin Farms rolls up a delicious (and gluten-free) vegetarian “meatball” with Portabella Veggiballs

Product: Franklin Farms Portabella Veggiballs – $4.29+

IT EXISTS!

Finally.  Eureka.  Happy dance.  Joy.

Being a gluten-free vegetarian is a struggle at times.  Most vegetarian faux-meat products are not gluten-free.  This makes getting that protein into the food I make a bit trickier than it should be.  Before needing to go gluten-free, I found some delicious gluten-free and vegetarian “meatballs” for pastas.  And loved them.

Then…the diagnosis was given and gluten-free turned into my way of eating and living.  So, these little vegetarian delights were no longer a part of my pasta nights.  In fact, neither were my usual noodles either.  I had to learn (and have!) the art of gluten-free pasta.  Which noodles work with what and why and how to properly prepare each brand, as they are all different.

That being said, while out at the grocery store, I was in the vegetarian section and spotted some of Franklin Farms’ veggie burgers.  I’ve had those before and knew they were gluten-free.  So, when sitting right next to them was a container labeled “Portabella Veggiballs,” I hesitantly pulled it out to look at the label.  Clearly stated on the front…GLUTEN-FREE!

YES!!

Guess what.  No hesitation.  I was already planning for a few pasta dishes this week, so when these were discovered, I already was planning how to incorporate them.

At first glance, without even a taste, here’s what I loved about the Franklin Farms Portabella Veggiballs.  A serving is three Veggiballs, at only 140 calories.  But that’s not what really caught my attention.  The big note for me is the 16 grams of protein that come with that!  Being a vegetarian athlete means that sometimes getting the right amount of protein into my diet is a struggle.  And then…something like this comes along and offers as much as a serving of Greek yogurt.  Awesome.  These are also low in sodium and fat.

Preparing them was easy.  As I was serving my pasta with a gluten-free butternut squash sauce, I simply heated up a pot, put in a serving of the sauce, tossed in the Veggiballs and covered, allowing it to simmer for about 20 minutes.  During that time, I brought water to a boil and got my gluten-free pasta cooking to a perfect al dente.

It all came together beautifully.  I tossed all the ingredients together and served up my roommate and I a serving.  The first thing I dug into was one of the Portabella Veggiballs.  I really wanted to see what it tasted like.  Would I like it?  Would it be packed with flavor?

I did.  And it was.

No…seriously!  Franklin Farms got it right.  These little balls of nutrition are great for vegetarians (even if they don’t have to eat gluten-free).  They are packed with vegetables – portabella mushrooms, onions, carrots, green bell peppers and red bell peppers.  They are seasoned to perfection, where they could be enjoyed even without being marinated in a pasta sauce.  Really delicious, bite-for-bite.  I thought they paired well not only with the sauce, but brought a little extra to the pasta that night.  I know these are going to become a staple in my freezer…and not just for use on pasta nights.  These were fantastic.  They didn’t crumble when sliced into.  And they just brought a nutritious punch to my carb-y pasta dinner the night before I ran a race.

Pasta perfection…thanks to Franklin Farms and their willingness to offer gluten-free and vegetarian options.  I know this gluten-free vegetarian is forever in their debt.