Asian Meat Balls

Pinterest Recipe Review:  * * * * *  (5/ 5 stars)

Picture courtesy of Gimme Some Oven

Ali posted a recipe for saucy Asian meatballs on her blog, Gimme Some Oven. (Posted below.) I recently made 'em and loved 'em! We served them over rice and stir fry veggies and also froze several meatballs for another time. I loved their salty goodness (but not too salty- if you're worried about that be sure to use low sodium soy suace.) I also loved how well they held together! Her recipe calls for hoisin sauce, and I was hesitant to go out and buy some for two reasons. First, I hate buying an ingredient that I will only use in one recipe and will consequently live out its shelf life taking up room, wasting away, in the refrigerator. And second, I doubted I'd find a gluten free version. Google led me to a recipe to use in making my own hoisin sauce though; it was delicious and, when doubled, made just enough!

Hoisin Sauce
4 T soy sauce (Tamari Gluten Free soy sauce)
2 T peanut butter
1 T honey
2 t white vinegar
1/8 t garlic powder
2 t sesame oil
20 drops hot sauce

Asian Meat Balls

• 2 lbs. ground pork or ground beef
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup Panko or breadcrumbs (I used crushed rice chex)
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions
• optional garnish: toasted sesame seeds   

Asian Sauce Ingredients

• 2/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce (again, I used tamari gluten free soy sauce)
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. ground ginger

Method:
Preheat oven to 400.
In a large bowl, mix together meatball ingredients until well-combined.  Shape into balls (I made mine about 1.5 inches, which yielded about 35 meatballs, but 1 inch is probably standard), and place on a greased baking sheet or in a 9×13 baking dish.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until meatballs are golden on the outside and no longer pink on the inside.
While the meatballs are baking, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients until blended.  Once meatballs have finished cooking, you can either dip each meatball individually (using a toothpick) in the sauce mixture.  Or you can pour the sauce over the meatballs and gently stir them until covered.
Serve warm, and sprinkle with additional garnish if desired.

Ali’s Tip:
You can also keep these warm (after cooking) in the crockpot on a low setting!

Spicy Beef Tacos

1 teaspoon oil
1  7 oz can green chilies
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup minced, fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons chili powder

In a large skillet over medium- high heat, warm oil then add cilantro and onion. Add chilies, cook 1 minute stirring. Stir in beef. As beef is browning, add garlic salt and chili powder. When cooked, add salsa, and 2 tablespoon of water. Simmer until most liquid is dissolved. Serve in taco shells.

Chili

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (undrained)

Brown beef with onion. Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano and cook for one more minute.

Add the beans and tomatoes. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have begun to break down, about 15 minutes.

Makes 4 to 6 servings. 289 calories, 25 g protein, 9 g fat (3g saturated fat), 25 carbs, 10 g fiber, 238 mg sodium

Li'l Cheddar Meat Loaves

Pretty sure this recipe came from Taste of Home

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick- cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound lean ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard

In a bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in the cheese, oats, onion and salt. Add beef and mix well. Shape into eight loaves and place on a greased broiler pan. Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard; spoon over the loaves. Make at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Sloppy Jo Meat

1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketsup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon vinegar

Sautee onion, celery, peppers in small amount of oil. Add the beef and brown. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Bird Nest Pie

1 pound spaghetti (For gluten free, we like quinoa spaghetti noodles best.)
2 eggs
3/4 cup parmesean cheese, shredded
1 cup sour cream
2 cans tomato paste
2 tablespoons water
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground Italian sausage
(Or, 2 pounds ground beef plus 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning.)

1. Grease two 9 or 10 inch round pie pans and preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare 1 pound of spaghetti according to package directions, let cool and mix with two eggs and the parmesan cheese. Spread into the pie pans and form a "nest" out of them. Top with sour cream.
3. In a large skillet, brown meat. Add tomato paste and water. Pour sauce over the sour cream.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

Instead of baking right away, you can cover the pies with plastic wrap and freeze. To prepare later, pull from freezer and thaw. remove plastic wrap, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer.

Serve with a fresh salad.

Best Lasagna

This works well with gluten free lasagna noodles.
worlds best lasagna courtesy of John Chandler