I always feel left out when everyone is SOOOOOOO excited for wings on game day. Growing up when I used to eat meat, I loved wings. But after my dad yelled at me for "leaving all the meat on the bone" - Italian Meat-Eating Dad, I realized I really only liked them for the flavoring (HOT SAWSSS).

Last weekend Bry and I had a bunch of friends over for March Madness and I decided it was time that the vegetarians had fun too! Actually, this is the real way this went down:

Bry - I'm making wings. What are you making?

Me - I'm making my famous go-to quinoa-avo-kale salad.

Bry - I don't know if that's really game food...

Me - speechless (thinking - HOW RUDE I'M SO OFFENDED YOU SHOULD LOVE ME FOR WHO I AM AND I AM A QUINOA-KALE EATING MACHINE)

Bry - Ya know?!

Me - Yeah that's true. Buff quinoa balls might be better for the game.

So an hour later and with quinoa ALL over the kitchen, my balls were made. All I will say is, at the end of the game, there were a few wings left in the crockpot and ZERO quinoa balls left on the platter. Note - the boys loved them too.

INGREDIENTS

Buffalo Sauce:

4 tablespoons melted vegan butter or ghee
4 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Frank's RedHot

Quinoa Balls:

4 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
2 cups mashed pinto beans
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

For cooking:

6 tablespoons coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook your quinoa.
Blend or mash pinto beans (I blended mine in my NutriBullet)
Mix together buffalo sauce ingredients. Set aside.
Mix quinoa ball ingredients. Add in 4 tablespoons of the buffalo sauce.
Form into balls (roll tightly. I used a tablespoon to make the first few balls and then made the rest to be around the same size. I also experimented with making some bigger and smaller).
Heat cast-iron skillet or large pan over medium to medium high heat. Add balls and cook, turning with spatula until they start to brown on all sides. Remove balls to a plate. Then gently dip each ball into the remaining buffalo sauce.

NOTES

Serving size - I was cooking for about 15 people. This made a large platter (my guess is close to 60 balls).
I used both a cast iron skillet and a large pan at the same time because I was making so many. For the skillet, I had to lower the heat to medium and make sure there was enough oil so the balls didn't stick. For the pan I had the heat on medium-high.
Make sure the balls aren't too close in the pan/skillet so you have room to turn them.
Watch the balls closely to avoid burning. I burnt some by accident and some on purpose. I like when they have a little burn/crisp to them.
Add more coconut oil to the pans in between batches if needed.
If you run out of buffalo sauce, just whip up some more. I ended up needing a little more at the end so I cut the recipe in half.
Feel free to make a blue cheese (or non-blue cheese) dressing for dipping on the side! A lot of people were using the blue cheese that we served with the wings.