VeganMoFo - Halloweegan One-Eyed Veggie Monsters!

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Well, now that I've grossed you all out with those disgusting Finger Dogs, here are some less revolting goodies.

These are chickpea-veggie monsters with green bean legs, celery mouths, and chickpea eyes (with ketchup centers). They are smiley, but you can make them grumpy by flipping the celery slices upside down for a mean frown (see Mr. Cranky Pants on the bottom-left).



The recipe is great for improvising with whatever veggies you have lurking in the fridge. I didn't measure any of the spices so you're gonna have to wing it!

Halloweegan One-Eyed Veggie Monsters

Ingredients:

1 cup of spinach, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1/2 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, cut into chunks
1/4 cup of water or vegetable broth
1 can of chickpeas (1 1/2 cup. Remember to reserve a few for the eyes!)
salt, pepper, paprika, parsley, whatever herbs and spices you love, to taste
1 cup of breadcrumbs

Legs, eyes, and mouths:
green beans for the legs
celery slices for the mouths
whole chickpeas and ketchup for the eyes

1- Sauté the spinach, onion, celery and bell pepper in a little bit of olive oil.

2- In a food processor, combine the sautéed vegetables, carrots, and water and process until fairly smooth. At this point, it will look like alien's vomit. Yummy!Hey, this is Halloweegan after all!

3- Add the chickpeas and pulse several times until there are no big chickpea chunks left. You don't want to make it so smooth as to make green hummus though. Remember to save a few whole chickpeas for the eyes!

4- Add salt and whatever spices you heart desires. I used paprika, cayenne pepper, and fresh parsley. Then add the breadcrumbs and pulse a few times until everything is evenly mixed.

5- Form ping-pong sized balls with the chickpea mix (it seems like I am always making balls.) If the "dough" is too soft and unmanageable, add more breadcrumbs. If it's too crumbly and the balls fall apart, add more water or broth.

6- Insert two green bean pieces into each ball. These will be your monster's legs. Frozen green beans are hard and easy to insert into the dough. Fresh will work too, but they might not soften enough while cooking, which might not be too kid friendly.

7- Insert a thick slice of celery as the mouth and a whole chickpea as the eye. Really press them in there!

8- Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and pan-fry the little monsters over medium-low heat. Flip them over on each side to cook them thoroughly. Cook each side for three or four minutes.

9- Remove from heat and use a toothpick heavily dipped in ketchup to "tap" the red drop in the middle of each chickpea/eye. Serve with couscous, rice, or quinoa.

This made a lot of little monsters, not sure how many, about 20 maybe. I also made some "normal" ones that are just shaped like nuggets. No eyes or mouths or little green bean legs. Boring, but easier and quicker for a non-Halloween occasion!

That'll do it! There might be some spooky black cat goodies tomorrow! Thank you so much for all your nice comments on my previous Halloweegan blog posts! :)

EDIT: Some of you want to know if these can be baked. I don't see why not, but I'm not sure about baking time and temperature. If you choose to bake them, and you've baked falafel before, then bake them like you would bake normal falafel. My guess would be at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for 10 more minutes, but that's just a guess because I pan fried these! Hope this helps!

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Comments

  1. haha those seriously make me laugh!

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  2. a more festive version of falafel! the recipe sounds wonderful - i will have to try it soon! (love the spinach and red pepper addition) but mine won't be as creative as yours with the halloween features! :)

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  3. Hi River,

    These sound delicious and they look so festive. I appreciate your honest descriptions for us:

    "At this point, it will look like alien's vomit"

    I am really enjoying your Halloweegan posts!

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  4. Ahh these are so funny! I think I have all the ingredients so I just might have to make these before I move! You said you could bake them...do you recommend a temp and time?

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  5. Love it! I've been tryin' to decide what to bring to a Halloween potluck coming up... I think these will be Horrifickly Wonderful! My son loves "Cranky Pants" :D
    ... like the "green vomit" part of the recipe description, He He!

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  6. If there were an award for vegan MoFoness, I should get it woman! You're the most creative!

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  7. i love these little monsters. Another homerun! Way to go!

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  8. That's it - you need your own food show :0)

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  9. those sound delicious! I might have to eat the eyeball first to prevent them from staring at me!

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  10. You are so creative. I love it.

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  11. I just LOVE seeing all the creations you come up with. They are such fun - you're a fun girl!
    :)

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  12. awwwwwwww! the sadfaced one-eyed veggie monster is my favorite! hooray! and they sound sooo tasty! i'm all about some chick peas, and these little guys look too cute all nestled in the rice! awesome!

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  13. These are so funny. I showed my daughter the picture and she wants them! Way to get the veggies and beans into the kiddos!

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  14. these have to be the greatest things ever....
    i am having a halloween party and all of your food is invited....
    you're welcome to come too but then you will discover my sneaky plan to get these awesome edibles alone :)....

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  15. These are adorable! And the recipe looks delish.

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  16. You cheer me up every day!

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  17. I love the celery smilies. And I second Seitan is my motor!

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  18. Love them! I am falling way behind on my VeganMoFo reading, but I make sure to check your creations out every day, they are fantastic, if only I could print them out straight onto the dinner table!

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  19. This blog makes me smile every time! I'm almost afraid for Halloween to be over because I'm going to miss this stuff so much.

    I love those falafel monsters!

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  20. I'm green with envy over your tasty looking veggie monsters!

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  21. River - you just keep outdoing yourself!!! These are soooooooo cute! The celery smiles just put it over the top :)

    P.S. Your blogs this month would make a great zine...

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  22. Watching you come up with these is so fun, and the month is only half over! What does your family think about all of this crazy businesS?

    xo
    kittee

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  23. I highly prefer the happy monsters to mean ones. Thanks for giving them all smiles! Great job!

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  24. another cute food! You should do a kids food book or something - you're talented, creative ans simply amazing. River's Biggest FAn!!

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  25. mr. crankypants would hate to hear that he is the cutest of the bunch :)

    I'm reading each mofo post from the oldest to the newest. I have to say, it's just getting cuter by the post. except of course the delightfully grotesque fingers.

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  26. Gauri Radha गौरी राधाMay 7, 2011 at 1:31 AM

    Those are adorable!!
    I love vegan Halloween creations, people come up with the coolest stuff :D

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