Turkey and Quinoa Meatballs
Mixing it up, and adding a post about the dinner I made with my brother’s help the other night. My dad is diabetic and can’t have carbs at night, so he tends to lean towards meat and vegetables for dinner. However, my brother has inherited ghastly high cholesterol, so he has to stay away from most meat and stick with vegetables and carbs all meals of the day. Neither of them are fish fans, so I decided to make one of my favorite lean dishes – turkey-and-quinoa meatballs with whole wheat pasta and chunky vegetable sauce. My dad could stick with the meatballs and chunky veggie sauce, and my brother could have a lean meatball or two, and then veggie-and-carb load.
I found the recipe for the meatballs a couple of years ago, and loved that the moisture that the extra vegetables and quinoa provided along with the healthnut “brownie” points. The recipe calls for beef, but the meatballs have tasted like meatloaf instead of meatballs the times I’ve made this with beef so I usually use turkey instead.
The meatballs have diced onions, garlic, quinoa, grated carrot and zucchini, and traditional herbs and spices. If you plan on making the meatballs at home, it’s definitely not a weeknight type of meal because of all the time that goes into prep in mincing/grating vegetables. Alone, the meal altogether takes me 2-3 hours to make.
The sauce is composed of just a bunch of chopped vegetables cooked til tender in some EVOO, mixed and heated together with some Prego, and then throw over some whole wheat pasta. Easy!
- 1 pound (93%) lean ground turkey
- 3/4 cup cooked quinoa (use frozen or cook it from scratch*)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup grated carrot
- 1/4 cup grated zucchini
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients until well combined. Shape into 16 balls and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Roast until cooked through and golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Serve hot.
*NOTE: To cook quinoa, bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small pot. Pour in ½ cup quinoa, cover and simmer until water is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside off of the heat for 10 minutes then fluff with a fork. Makes about 1 1/2 cups. Use 3/4 cup in this recipe, and reserve the remaining for another use.