Harmony Valley ‘Hamburger’ Mix (With Recipe)

Harmony Valley Foods is a company with two products (and soon a third!) that are Vegan and Kosher friendly. Unlike most meat substitutes they are shelf stable making them a great choice for the pantry, emergency food stores (yes, everyone should have a month of non-perishable food on hand!) and even for camping and backpacking. When I was first backpacking years ago I often used a Fantastic Foods mix (lets back that one up a bit – I first ate it in Shake Down Street at Dead shows in the early 90’s!) but let us say that the mixes of yonder days have been improved on. Taste and convenience have come far. Each bag is 5.7 ounces and makes the equivalent of 1 pound of meat, pulls together with cold water and in 15 minutes is ready to used in nearly any recipe as you would use ground hamburger – just minus the cholesterol and saturated fat and is high in fiber, protein and iron. And unlike the mixes of past, this hamburger mix actually looks and works like hamburger.

Harmony Valley even has a nice collection of recipes on their website to look through, of which I did and picked a recipe to try.

Harmony Valley Vegetable Hamburger Mix:

The company also makes a Harmony Valley Vegetarian Sausage Mix that I am hoping to find soon to try:

And in the near future will have an instant hummus mix for sale (I am very excited about that, dry hummus is great for taking hiking and backpacking).

So what did I decide to do with my bag of hamburger mix? Well, I decided to look at their recipes and picked the Swedish Meatballs, which I adapted a bit to make more cholesterol friendly. The meatballs were delicious – so good there was no leftovers, the guys scarfed them down. And more so….they didn’t taste like fake meat. Easy to make up the base, easy to make into a meal. I liked it so much I went onto Amazon and bought a 6 pack of both kinds. That says a lot – I really liked it and it will give me some new ideas for dinners in the future.

Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
•    1 package Harmony Valley Vegetarian Hamburger Mix
•    2 slices fresh bread (used Dave’s Killer Bread)
•    ¼ cup dairy milk
•    6 tablespoons butter or margarine
•    1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
•    ½ cup Eggbeaters or similar
•    1 teaspoon ground black pepper
•    ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
•    ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
•    ¼ cup all-purpose flour
•    3 cups stock; mushroom, no-beef broth, or vegetable stock
•    ¼ cup whole milk
Directions:
Prepare Harmony Valley Vegetarian Hamburger Mix according to package instructions (which is add 1¼ cups water to the mix, stir up well and let sit for 15 minutes).
Preheat oven to 200°.
Tear the bread into pieces and place in a small mixing bowl along with the milk. Set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion and sweat until the onions are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sodden milk, the prepared Harmony Valley Vegetarian Hamburger mix, EggBeaters, ½ teaspoon black pepper, allspice, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and the cooked onions. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Using a 1 tablespoon disher, scoop the mixture and shape into meat balls with your hands. (For less mess make the meatballs and place on a sheet of parchment paper)

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet over medium heat and sauté ½ of the meatballs in the butter until they are golden brown on both sides. Remove from the skillet and set aside on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper in the warm oven.

Melt 1 more tablespoon of butter in the skillet and cook the remaining meatballs. Add to the first batch of meatballs and place back in the oven.

Melt the remaining butter in the skillet and add the flour. Whisk until lightly browned. Gradually add the broth and whisk until the sauce begins to thicken.

Add the milk, ½ teaspoon black pepper and ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg, and continue to cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency.

Remove the meatballs from the oven, add to the gravy the gravy and let simmer for a couple of minutes

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a 8 to 12 ounce package of egg noodles (8 ounces for 3, 12 for 4) and cook for time on package, drain. (Use No Yolk brand for low-cholesterol!)

Divide the noodles between plates and cover with the meatballs and gravy, sprinkle with chopped parsley as desired.

Serves 3 to 4.

~Sarah

FTC Disclaimer: We received samples for potential review.