Asian Meatballs

It's no secret that I love Everyday Food. When I received the newest issue in the mail, I immediately flagged a few recipes I wanted to make. The Asian Turkey Meatballs with Carrot Rice was the first one that I tried, though I made it with ground pork instead of turkey. (Ground pork is cheaper)
I was skeptical of how flavourful the meatballs would be, but I needn't have worried. Everyday Food recommended serving them with lime wedges and a squeeze of lime on the meatballs was perfect, it balanced out the spiciness from the hot sauce.

(also hit "read more" for a Sweet Marie bar recipe)

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Carrot Rice
adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
1 cup long-grain white rice

1 carrot, shredded
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed (this wasn't in the original recipe, I added them)
3/4 cup of fresh breadcrumbs  (I used 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs)
1 1/2 pounds ground dark-meat turkey or ground pork (I used ground pork)
3 scallions, white & green parts separated and thinly sliced  (I used 6, I love green onion)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I did not use cilantro, I do not like it)
4 teaspoons fish sauce
4 teaspoons hot-pepper sauce (preferably Sriracha)
4 teaspoons sugar
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

lime wedges, for serving
 
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups salted water to boil. Add rice, stir, and return to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and top with carrot and peas. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes, then stir in veggies and fluff rice with a fork.
 
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs and 3 tablespoons water. Let stand 5 minutes. Add meat, scallion whites, cilantro (if using), fish sauce, hot-pepper sauce, sugar, garlic, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Gently mix to combine and form into 12 meatballs.
Note: When I first read through the recipe I thought "How can 12 meatballs serve 4 people??" It's because they are not regular golf ball sized meatballs. Roughly the size of two golf ball sized meatballs formed together into one meatball.
 
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high. In batches, brown meatballs, on all sides, 10 minutes total (add up to 1 teaspoon oil as needed). Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until cooked through, 10 minutes. Serve meatballs with rice, scallion greens, and lime wedges.
 
These were FANTASTIC! I normally eat my lunch around noon, but at 11:00 I broke down and had lunch because I couldn't wait to eat my leftovers. I'm debating making them again this week for a second time. They were so easy to put together and they were so good.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
While I was making the meatballs, I also made Sweet Marie bars, recipe courtesy of my friend A.
 
A's Sweet Marie Bars
1 part peanut butter
1 part corn syrup
1 park brown sugar
6 parts crispy rice cereal
melted chocolate
Note: When I made the recipe I used 1 cup as the measurement.
 
In a sauce pan over med high heat, stir together the first 3 ingredients. This should only take a couple minutes, you want them to combine and liquefy just a little bit. The goal is not to melt them completely, or bring to a boil.
Place the cereal in a large bowl (use a very large bowl, I made a huge mess by spilling cereal everywhere when trying to combine the cereal and PB mix in a bowl that wasn't big enough), and pour the heated peanut butter mix over the cereal. Stir to combine.
Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan, and press the cereal mix into it. When the cereal mix has been pressed into the pan and is mostly even, pour melted chocolate over the top to cover. (I melted about a cup or so of chocolate chips and poured it over the top)
Let stand until the chocolate cools and hardens.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
These are very addictive!