Dr. Igor’s Adzuki Bean & Mushroom Fritter Buddha Bowl Recipe

Total Time: Overnight + 1 hour and 30 minutes

Soaking Time: overnight

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Makes: about 25 fritter balls

Allergens: seeds, tree nuts

These vegan fritter balls are the perfect centerpiece for your next veggie buddha bowl! They’re made with sweet and nutty sprouted adzuki beans, caramelized cremini mushrooms for maximum flavor, aromatics and vegetarian umami seasonings like coco aminos, chickpea miso paste and nutritional yeast. Plenty of plant-based protein in this vegan dish!

Toss and top your veggies with a low-fat, super flavorful sweet potato dressing flavored with zingy turmeric and spicy ginger. This is super easy to make and a unique way to utilize vitamin A and potassium rich sweet potatoes. This recipe will cut fat and the calories that come with while adding more antioxidants and phytonutrients to your diet.

FRITTER

• 2 tablespoons of hemp oil

• 1 sprig of thyme

• 1 lb of cremini or button mushrooms, sliced

• 1 shallot, peeled and diced

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1-½ cups of sprouted or regular adzuki beans, soaked overnight, then cooked

• 1 cup of chopped walnuts

• ¼ cup of tigernut flour

• 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed

• 1 tablespoon each of fresh parsley, cilantro and basil, chopped

• 1 tablespoon of coco aminos

• 1 tablespoon of soy-free hoisin sauce

• 1 tablespoon of chickpea miso

• 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

• ½ teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt

DRESSING

• 1 cup of mashed sweet potato (1 large, peeled)

• 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1 tablespoon of fresh basil, chopped

• 1 tablespoon of fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced

• 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

• 1 clove of garlic

• 2 tablespoons of shallots, chopped (½ of a small shallot)

• 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons of coco aminos

• 1 tablespoon of hemp oil

• 1 tablespoon of honey

• 1 teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt

• ½ cup of water

VEGGIES

• Shredded red cabbage, steamed green bean, cooked broccolini, fried shimeji mushrooms, roasted zucchini, sautéed asparagus, snap peas, romaine lettuce, sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and scallions

• Other toppings: cooked garbanzo beans, green cabbage, napa cabbage, corn, roasted butternut squash, grilled peppers, arugula, radicchio, sprouts and/or any other seasonal vegetable or legume you can find!

Fritter pt.1: Boil the adzuki beans for 30-40 minutes or until al dente and just about fully cooked, strain, rinse and set aside. Sauté the sliced mushrooms in hemp oil for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add your shallots, garlic and thyme sprig and cook for another 5 minutes until most of the moisture from the mushrooms are evaporated, the onions are translucent, and the garlic is aromatic but not burned.

Dressing & Vegetables: Peel, chop and boil/steam your sweet potato for 20 minutes or until really soft. Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor or high-speed blender and purée until smooth. Add more water to thin out and salt to season if necessary. While waiting for the beans to cook, take this time to prepare your veggie components for the buddha bowls.

Fritter pt.2: Preheat an oven to 425°F. Gather the rest of your ingredients for the bean fritters. In a food processor add your dry ingredients (nutritional yeast, walnuts, flax seed & tigernut flour) and pulse until a coarse flour forms. Add the cooked mushroom mix, boiled adzuki beans, chopped herbs, miso, coco aminos, hoisin and salt. Pulse a little at a time while scraping down the sides often to form the fritter dough.

Fritter pt.3: Transfer the dough into a bowl and get a large baking tray ready lined with parchment paper and sprayed with olive oil. Using a small sized ice cream scooper, portion out golf ball sized mounds, roll them into balls between your palms, lay them on the baking tray and repeat until you form 24-26 fritters. Spray or brush with more olive oil, sprinkle some salt and bake for 10 minutes.

Plate: Toss some lettuce with some dressing, place them in a bowl and arrange all the vegetable components on top. Add some adzuki bean fritters and more dressing if you like. Serve and enjoy!

Storing and shelf life: store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to a month

• -olive oil for hemp oil

• -portobello or shiitake mushrooms for cremini mushrooms

• -onions for shallots

• -black or kidney beans for adzuki beans

• -almond flour for tigernut flour

• -hemp hearts for ground flaxseed

• -soy sauce for coco aminos (for non-soy-free people)

• -hoisin sauce for soy-free hoisin (for non-soy-free people)

• -vegan parmesan for nutritional yeast (for non-paleo people)

• Note that the nutritional facts below are just for the adzuki bean fritters***

Where can I buy sprouted adzuki beans? Buy them at whole food stores, specialty health stores or online. You can also soak and sprout them yourself. Look online for tips on how to.