It's been a crazy busy start to 2016! I've been so busy at school that I've scarcely had time to cook, let alone felt like cooking. This is a very bad thing in my house. Not wanting to cook means eating out. And eating out means eating meals that are quick, but not very good for you. Which means weigh gain for me. Okay, I've gained a wee bit of weight because of this busy/lazy period these last few months, but I'm getting back in gear. I see an end to my crazy schedule approaching so I can cook all these great ideas I have swimming in my head and scribbled on the backs of envelopes. To get started on the right track here's a recipe that has bounced around my head since Christmas time. I finally made some time to putter around my kitchen on Superbowl Sunday and these super delicious Chorizo Meatballs with Chimichurri Pesto came to life! These meatballs are made with ground turkey and soy chorizo so they are lighter in calories and fat than ones made with ground beef and beef chorizo. They are incredibly satisfying and full of flavor all by themselves. But the chimichurri pesto just knocks these meatballs out of the park! I wanted to make a sauce with these but thought a traditional chimichurri would be too oily, so I decided to add some cotija cheese and pine nuts to give it a texture more reminiscent of pesto. And I was so right! We had them as an appetizer while watching the big game, but since this was all I ate that night, they also ended up making a wonderful Tapas dinner. Enjoy!Albondigas with Chimichurri Pesto
Makes ~24 Meatballs
1.25 lb of ground turkey12 oz. soy chorizo1/2-3/4 cup plain bread crumbs1/2 cup grated Cotija cheese 3 T parsley, dried1 egg Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and roll into small 1 inch meatballs. Place meatballs on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. After baking, toss these meatballs into a skillet to brown the outsides a little bit more. Place a tablespoon of chimichurri pesto (see recipe below) on a serving plate and place a skewered meatball on top and sprinkle with a little extra cotija cheese and serve.
Chimichurri Pesto
1 bunch of cilantro1/4 cup of onion1 garlic clove1 jalapeno pepper, seeded chopped1/2 cup cotija cheese, grated1/4 cup pine nutsjuice and zest of one lime1 T apple cider vinegar 3 T olive oil salt (to taste)Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend on high until well blended. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use. This sauce is great the next day as the flavors have more time to meld. Top meatballs with 1 T of chimichurri pesto and devour. Enjoy! Other Meatball recipes to try:
Salisbury Meatballs with Kale Greek Meatballs Spicy Asian Meatball Soup
These days, you see recipes for kale everywhere. You can't look at Pinterest without seeing kale, quinoa or chia in some new and delicious recipe. They are the trifecta of food popularity. I love quinoa and kale, there's a reason food becomes popular, because they are so yummy. Believe it or not, I haven't yet tried chia seeds. Not sure why I haven't. Maybe it's because I only see chia being added to yogurt and smoothies and stuff like that and I don't really eat yogurt or drink smoothies or protein drinks. Yucky. I guess you can say I'm still looking for a chia recipe that interests me. Anyway... I do love Kale, but I must admit I am not all that fond of kale when it is in salads all by itself. An entire salad of just Kale is practically inedible. It definitely needs to have another green to tone down the roughage factor. It's tough, hearty and floral tasting but I find it can end up tasting bitter if not mixed with the right salad toppings. I personally think Kale tastes best when paired with something sweet like fruit like in my Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa. I also think Kale is BEST when cooked. Saute, braise, roast into chips, and throw it into soups, all super yummy! If you like greens or fried cabbage this is the veggie for you. The idea of braising it with onions and topping it with a sweet and earthy balsamic butter sauce had been bouncing in my head for a while. I'd made it a few times as just a delicious side dish but I felt the heartiness of it needed to be its own meal. I decided to pair it with these yummy Salisbury meatballs and the dish was a home run. Enjoy!
Cool Product Alert! My mom gave me this lightly dried parsley from Gourmet Garden and I used it in my meatballs and also to top the finished dish. I loved having this on hand because I don't always have fresh parsley in the fridge. This little tub has quite a bit in it and goes a long way. Convenient and pure genius! Salisbury Meatballs with Braised Kale and Balsamic Butter Sauce
Serves 4
Salisbury Meatballs 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef1/2 cup bread crumbs1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 1 t. garlic powder1 t. onion powder2 T Gourmet Garden Parsley, dried2 T Worcestershire sauce1 eggsalt and pepper to taste1-2 T canola oil for frying
In a large bowl mix all ingredients together and roll into medium sized meatballs. Add oil to a large skillet and over medium high heat, brown all sides until cooked through. Remove from skillet and cover with aluminum foil and set aside. Braised Kale and Onions2 large bunches kale, roughly chopped (~10 cups)1/2 large yellow onion, sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced1-2 T olive oil 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth1/2 cup white wine1/2 cup water pepper In a large pot, add olive oil, onions and garlic and cook over high heat until translucent. About 5 minutes. Add chopped kale, chicken broth, wine and water and cover with a lid. Heat on high for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir kale. The kale should be wilted enough to be covered by the liquid at the bottom of the pot. Heat on medium heat, covered for about 15 minutes until Kale stems are nearly tender. Add about half of the balsamic butter to the greens and stir. Continue to heat uncovered for another 10-15 minutes to reduce liquid until the kale is cooked to desired tenderness. Salt and pepper to taste. Note: Taste the kale before adding salt because the chicken broth when reduced adds salt so take care not to add too much.
Balsamic Butter Sauce1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced to 3T1 stick of unsalted butter (1/2 cup)1/2 T brown sugarblack pepper
Add vinegar into a small saucepan. On medium heat, heat vinegar until reduced to about 3 T. Turn off heat and add sugar and pepper and stir. Add butter and set aside until butter is melted. Add about half of the balsamic butter to Braised Kale during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time and drizzle the remaining half over the Salisbury Meatballs before serving. Garnish with Parsley and enjoy!Other recipes to try:
