Recipe: Monica's Global Chicken and Lamb Meatballs

I think I tossed in almost everything in my cupboard, and they are delicious! The remarkable thing about these meatballs is that they have no breadcrumbs, flour, cornmeal, or any other carb-y binder. They aren't at all crumbly, though - the egg combined with the searing worked well to hold them together. They of course have a more dense texture than the average meatball, but they are still juicy and delicious without those added carbs. Apparently the bread is supposed to soak up the seasonings, but these are well-seasoned without that.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground lamb (I found some really lean lamb with only 130 calories and 3g fat per 4 oz. serving at Piggly Wiggly.)
• 1 pound Perdue 99% fat-free ground chicken breast (I can only find this at Publix)
• About 1 cup diced yellow onions
• About 1.5 cups chopped parsley
• 3 tbsp. dried oregano
• 3 tbsp. pureed fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 tsp. ground sage
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp. curry powder
• 2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 6 large cloves of garlic, diced but not minced
• Pinch of cayenne
• 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 cup Egg Beaters
• About 1/2 tbsp. salt
• Lots of coarsely ground black pepper
• Liquid smoke
• Worcestershire sauce
• Soy sauce
• Other fresh herbs - mint, rosemary, basil - whatever you want or have on hand
• 3 packets of Splenda
• Water

Directions:

1. Sweat the onions with a large pinch of nutmeg and a sprinkle of salt. Allow them to cool.
2. In a large bowl, throw in the lamb and the chicken, along with all of the other ingredients including the tender onions - EXCEPT for the liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. Combine carefully and gently without overworking the meat.
3. Separate them into 1-oz. servings and roll into balls. I weighed mine on my nifty food scale.
4. Heat a large saute pan very hot and spray with nonstick spray.
5. Sear each meatball on both sides. Do not crowd the pan, and be very gentle with them so they do not fall apart. This will make a lot of meatballs, so you will need to do this in batches.
6. Preheat your oven to 350.
7. Place all of the meatballs into a roasting pan.
8. Mix together a broth primarily consisting of a soy sauce base, a few dashes of liquid smoke, a more substantial portion of Worcestershire sauce, the fresh herbs, the Splenda, and about 2 cups water.
9. Pour the broth over the meatballs in the pan.
10. Cook the meatballs the rest of the way in the oven. This will take between 15 and 30 minutes.

This recipe makes between 40 and 45 meatballs. Yum! Store the extra meatballs in the broth to keep them moist, but I wouldn't use the broth as a sauce or anything. These were wonderful with the Autumn Pumpkin and Broccoli Soup. They would also taste great served simply with a little Greek yogurt or sour cream.

Each meatball has about 35 calories and about 5.5 grams of protein.