Sesame-Soy Meatballs

I love you, Cooking Light. You make my month.

I made this recipe tonight, unsure of how it would taste. It is supposed to be made with ground sirloin, but I subbed ground turkey, because I don't eat ground beef, and I had turkey in the house. The meat mixture was a big, gloppy mess, to the point where I added more meat, because I thought the balls would fall apart. I was skeptical, to say the least. Even when I put them on the stove, in a pan, I thought there was no way they'd stay together. I was anticipating one of those nights, where we would try the food, hate it, and end up re-heating leftovers. I wished I had paid more attention to the one and only review of these meatballs - it said they were good, but mushy. Why didn't I listen?

Much to my surprise, even though the balls didn't keep their perky, bouncy ball shape (they were more like a messy, slightly deflated ball), they tasted delicious. They were very moist, without being mushy, and the flavor was really outstanding. Kevin said they reminded him of the szechuan meatloaf I make, though they were much saucier and moist. I will definitely be making this again, but I'll try it with ground chicken next time. We both tend to like the texture of it a little better. By the way, this one is easy and quick. Serve it over brown rice, with some steamed veggies on the side, and you have a delicious, easy meal, with an easy clean up.

Make these. Make them, now.

Sesame-Soy Meatballs

Serve these garlicky, spicy meatballs with steamed sugar snap peas and two cups cooked rice tossed with 1 tablespoon chile paste—you'll find it on the ethnic aisle of most supermarkets or at Asian grocers.


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 5 meatballs)

Cost per Serving: $2.50

1/3 cup minced green onions
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon chile paste (such as sambal oelek)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 pound ground sirloin
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Add beef; mix gently to combine. With moist hands, shape beef mixture into 20 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs.

3. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs to pan; cook 4 minutes, turning to brown meatballs on all sides. Arrange browned meatballs in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining meatballs. Bake meatballs at 400° for 7 minutes or until done.


CALORIES 241 ; FAT 11.3g (sat 2.7g,mono 4.8g,poly 3g); CHOLESTEROL 42mg; CALCIUM 36mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.3g; SODIUM 491mg; PROTEIN 23.5g; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1.9mg

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2010