Running Mama Cooks

Experimenting with Asian food has been a lot of fun for me lately. Why order out when I can make it at home? I've had this meatball recipe bookmarked for quite some time, and I'm glad I finally got around to making it. They were really flavorful and I loved the dipping sauce.

I was equally happy with the fried rice. Actually, that was probably the star of the dinner for me. I LOVE fried rice. This version was not a let down at all. So good and easy!

Asian Turkey Meatballs With Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce
Recipe from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes

Ingredients:

Meatballs-

1/4 cup panko crumbs
1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

Dipping Sauce-

4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 chopped fresh scallion

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500°F.

Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

For the dipping sauce mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add scallions.

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce.

Serve meatballs with remaining sauce. Makes 12 meatballs.

A closer look at the rice:
Fried Brown Rice
Recipe Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked brown rice
2/3 cup chopped baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
soy sauce to taste
hoisin sauce to taste
sesame oil, to taste (optional)

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add carrots and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Drop peas into boiling water, and drain.

Heat wok over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in carrots and peas; cook about 30 seconds. Crack in eggs, stirring quickly to scramble eggs with vegetables. Stir in cooked rice. Shake in soy sauce and hoisin sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, and toss again.

ZACH'S RATING -
Meatballs *** 1/2
Rice ****

I was in charge of appetizers for both New Years Eve and New Years Day. I made a double batch of Pioneer Woman's BBQ meatballs, inspired by Lauren's Kitchen Blog Entry.

They came out great, but I have to admit they were time consuming and a little bit of a pain. It was hard to make them small and even because I didn't have a small ice cream scoop, which I would definitely have to get if I was making these guys again.

Meatballs

•1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
•3/4 cup oats
•1 cup milk
•3 tablespoons very finely minced onion
•1 1/2 teaspoon salt
•plenty of ground black pepper
Sauce

•1 cup ketchup
•2 tablespoons sugar
•2.5 tablespoons vinegar
•2 tablespoons Worcestershire
•4 to 6 tablespoons onion
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

Remove from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty french bread.

Since I have some homemade sauce in the freezer, I think its a good day for pasta and meatballs! This Rachael Ray recipe has become my "go to" way to make meatballs, they are so tasty and moist. I usually cook with ground turkey breast because it is the leanest, but I love how the ground chicken tastes here.

Roast Chicken Sausage Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
Black pepper
2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (I skip this because I never have them on hand)
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs, plus more, if needed*

Preheat Over to 450 degrees

In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, salt and pepper, rosemary, fennel seeds, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano - a rounded handful, egg and bread crumbs. *If the mixture seems too wet, add a handful of bread crumbs and mix together.

Form 8 large round balls, about 3 to 4-inches. Coat balls in a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and lightly grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Arrange balls on the baking sheet and roast 17 to 18 minutes until juices run clear.

I adjusted the recipe for only 1 lb of ground chicken since there are only 3 of us and also added a handful of defrosted frozen spinach to sneak some veggies into dinner. I reheated my sauce in the crockpot and added the meatballs after roasting. Serving over cellentani pasta.

The meatball are hanging out in the crockpot as I type this. Cecily and I had to split one after it came out of the over because it smelled so good. She is already asking when dinner is (not typical for my picky 3 1/2 year old)!

Original Rachael Ray Recipe