Friday, January 26, 2007

Well at least I had those wonderful carrots



Mini Greek Meatballs
The South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook Copyright 2005

1 pound lean ground beef
½ small onion, minced
½ cup finely crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese I used regular
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine beef, onion, cheese, garlic, egg, 1 tablespoon of oil, oregano, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Knead to combine, being careful not to overmix.

Lightly oil a 9x13-inch baking dish. Shape meat mixture into 40 (1-tablespoon) meatballs. Place in a single layer in the baking dish and bake until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot.
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I wasn't crazy about these meatballs. They weren't bad, but they weren't anything special. They didn't brown up very much. There was too much moisture - stuffed kind of oozed out of them. Then they ended up kind of dry, not an uncommon problem when using lean ground beef. I liked the flavor from the feta and vinegar but since these don't cook very long, the onion and garlic was a bit too intense for me. These weren't something I would make again but they made an acceptable dinner with some whole wheat couscous and my favorite carrots ever. My husband didn't leave me any meatballs for my lunch the next day so he must have enjoyed them. I'm sure he slathered them with some condiment.

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Here's a meme that Red Dirt Mummy tagged me for:
Three people/things that make me laugh: my son, good sitcoms, my family
Three things that scare me: illness, death, torture
Three things I love: good health, my family, cooking
Three things I hate: food allergies, cancer, getting older (but it beats the alternative)
Three things I don’t understand: politics, war, parents who kill or hurt their children
Three things on my desk: frog prince, coasters, basket of pens
Three things I want to do before I die: see my son grow up, feel satisfied with my life, have a nice picture of myself taken
Three things I can do: cook, fix things, run for several miles at a clip
Three things I would like to learn: how to concentrate, how to use my time more wisely, how not to worry
Three favorite foods: pizza, donuts, steak
Three beverages I drink regularly: coffee, seltzer, decaf unsweetened iced tea
Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid:The Donny and Marie Show(watched), Wonder Woman (watched), Little Women (read) I watched a lot of TV and read a lot of books and those were just the first that came to mind, not necessarily the shows/books that I enjoyed the most
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I'm stumped on next week's menu. I have a couple of meals planned but I need a few more. I want to do something with those Italian (hoagie-shaped) rolls that I made last week but I'm not sure what. I think I might end up freestyling some chicken cheesesteaks.

Blast From The Past: Crunchy Baked Chicken from April 2006. That was probably my favorite 'oven fried' chicken recipe and I've tried a few.

Question of the Day: What would you make with the Italian rolls?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do something that you wrap in foil and then bake. That would make the bread really crispy and yummy. Maybe like a stromboli or something.

Anonymous said...

I loved Wonder Woman. We all used to run around at lunchtime playing Wonder Woman and using our 'bracelets' to deflect bullets. Man, we were so cool... NOT! LOL