Asian Turkey Meatballs with Rice

Right now I should be trying to figure out what I'm going to make for dinner tonight because I've got no plan for this week. I spent the end of last week working on food for our tailgate & sorority reunion that we had in Aggieland on Saturday instead of menu planning for this week like usual. However, instead of scrounging through the pantry, I'm procrastinating and sharing with you all what I made last week!

Today I bring you yet another recipe from Martha Stewart's Everday Food. When I first saw the recipe for Asian Turkey Meatballs, I was quite sure about them. They sounded a bit odd, but I decided to give them a try and they were pretty darn good. The Hubs really liked them!

Ingredients:

* coarse salt
* 1 cup long-grain white rice
* 1 carrot, shredded
* 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
* 1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey or pork
* 3 scallions, white & green parts separated & thinly sliced
* 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 4 tsp. fish sauce
* 4 tsp. hot-pepper sauce (preferably Sriracha)
* 4 tsp. sugar
* 1 large clove garlic, minced
* 2 tsp. vegetable oil
* lime wedges for serving



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs and 3 Tablespoons of water. Let stand 5 minutes.

3. Add turkey, scallion whites, cilantro, fish sauce, hot-pepper sauce, sugar, garlic & 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Gently mix to combine.


And form into 12 meatballs.


4. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tsp oil over medium-high. In batches, brown meatballs on all sides, 10 minutes total. Add up to 1 tsp. oil, as needed.


5. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until cooked through, 10 minutes.


6. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions. Stir in carrots and scallion greens (and extra cilantro if desired).


7. Serve meatballs with rice and lime wedges.


My Tid-Bits:

* Martha suggests using long-grain white rice & cooking it traditionally, but you can use whatever rice you like best. I personally prefer Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Boil-in-Bag Brown Rice. It's impossible to mess up & tastes good.

* I also LOVE cilantro, so I added a bunch to the rice, in addition to the cilantro called for in the meatballs.

* If you use lean ground turkey for these meatballs, one serving (3 meatballs) has just under 300 calories and 5 g of fat, excluding the rice.