Delicious & Indulgent Vegan Red Bean Kebab!

When I was a little boy, my Romanian grandfather used to take me to South Tel Aviv to eat kebabs at his friends' Romanian restaurants on Salameh Street.

He would take me to Mishu's and Vinko's restaurants to eat Mititei (Romanian kebab).

(If you're not Romanian, you should know that Romanian nicknames often end in "cu" – for example, to this day, my family calls me "Hagaicu.")

I remember feeling too awkward to tell my grandfather that I hated Mititei: I hated the heavy feeling afterward, and I hated the garlic burps that wouldn't stop, even hours later.

I always preferred a pita with hummus and a pickle from the delis in Levinsky Market, which my grandmother Sarah would sometimes prepare for my school lunches.

To this day, I still don't know where she got those perfect pitas.

Grandpa would drink a lot of light beer, and I would drink black beer (a non-alcoholic malt beverage).

And he would launch into stories about women he loved before the war (and after).

Then, a plot twist:

In time, Grandpa Mircea, a lover of kebabs and meat, became a complete vegetarian and started sprouting lentils in his small apartment.

Perhaps that's why he was fortunate enough to live past 90, completely lucid and folk dancing in Atarim Square twice a week.

As a result, he stopped taking me to Mishu's to eat Mititei.

(Also, Mishu had a stroke at a young age and closed the restaurant sometime in the late '80s).

After Grandpa Mircea also passed on to a better world, I felt a longing for those small, long-gone Romanian workers' restaurants that served simple food, which was fun to wash down with lots of cheap beer.

(Or black beer, depending on how close you were to 14 – the age when Grandpa pushed a glass of Maccabi beer into my hand and ordered me to drink).

And so I tried to recreate that same taste and atmosphere of the kebab, this time in a vegan version made from red beans. (And without the garlic burps).

The reason I chose to use red beans is, first and foremost, for their nutritional value, and secondly, for their appearance and texture.

A significant advantage is that this vegan kebab, unlike its meaty counterpart, doesn't cause heaviness or stomach discomfort.

I hope I succeeded in recreating the taste of a real Romanian kebab.

Honestly, I know Grandpa would probably spit in contempt and click his tongue at this attempt.

A Bit About This Vegan Kebab:

I used canned red beans.

• Before you jump to conclusions, you should know that there are no preservatives in canned goods. If the can is BPA-free (many manufacturers now clearly state this) and the food inside doesn't contain high amounts of sodium, there's no health reason not to use them.
• Of course, you can also prepare red beans in a pressure cooker, for example, or buy frozen cooked red beans.
• To reduce the amount of flour in the recipe and to create juiciness and softness, I used a roasted eggplant salad, which is very low in calories. You can replace it with the same amount of grated carrots, roasted zucchini, or any other vegetable you like.
• I used white rice flour to bind the mixture, but you can use white wheat flour, whole wheat flour, or any other flour you prefer. It doesn't really matter.
• The spices I used are: ras el hanout, cinnamon, cardamom, and hot paprika. You can swap them for any other spice you like, but the dominant kebab flavor comes from the cinnamon. I highly recommend not skipping it.
• To get a slightly meaty flavor, I used maitake mushrooms. You can omit them or replace them with shiitake mushrooms.

Looking for another red bean recipe?

Nutritional Information from Clinical Dietitian and Fitness Coach Noam Bechar:

One 40-gram kebab (out of 10) contains:

• 104 calories
• 4 grams of protein
• 13 grams of carbohydrates
• 4 grams of fat

Vegan Red Bean Kebab

Keyword Red Beans, Kebab, Protein

Prep Time 4 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Servings 10 kebabs

Calories 104 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 can red beans, drained 200 g (7.1 oz)
• 3 tablespoons prepared eggplant salad oil-free
• 3 tablespoons crushed tomatoes grated on a box grater
• 1 tablespoon maitake mushrooms, soaked in a little hot water for 10 minutes and drained
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup any white flour rice/wheat/oat
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon ras el hanout
• 1 level teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 level teaspoon cardamom
• 1 heaping teaspoon hot paprika
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 handful chopped parsley

Instructions

1. In a food processor, blend all the kebab ingredients except for the onion and parsley until a uniform paste is formed.

2. Place in the refrigerator for an hour to firm up.

3. Preheat the oven to a very high temperature, 250°C (480°F).

4. Add the chopped onion and parsley and mix well.

   

5. With wet or oiled hands, form kebab shapes, quickly passing the patty from hand to hand until the desired shape is achieved.

   

6. If the mixture is very sticky and runny, add a tablespoon or two of flour.

7. Place on a baking sheet and brush each vegan kebab with a little olive oil.

   

8. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden.

9. Serve each kebab in a fresh pita with pickles, spicy sauce, and tahini.

   

10. Say hi to Grandpa for me.