Turkey Basil Artichoke Meatballs
I think I’ve decided that instead of calling my non-training days “rest days” I should call them “cooking days” because during my rest days I spend most of my time in the kitchen preparing dishes I’ve been wanting to get to for awhile but haven’t had time. Cooking and food photography are two of my biggest passions, besides lifting weights and writing (duh), and I think it’s good to spend time doing things that are creative outlets. I make a list every week of two new dishes I want to try and this week one of them was Turkey Basil Artichoke Meatballs by PaleOMG. You can see the recipe here or at the bottom of this post. She’s a pretty creative paleoista.
I wish I could take credit for this dish. But I can’t…the only thing I did was take some purty pictures and stuff my face. All good fun.
I did use a slightly different set of spices though, considering I’m a spice hoarder and have to use as many as I can when they’re applicable. Luckily almost everything goes well with meatballs.
I did use a slightly different set of spices though, considering I’m a spice hoarder and have to use as many as I can when they’re applicable. Luckily almost everything goes well with meatballs.
Basil garlic, Mrs. Dash Table Blend, Sea Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder= BAM.
The cutest little raw meatballs. Not really… they look pretty narsty and I reeked of onions. But it was sooo worth it.
Turkey Basil Artichoke Meatballs (paleo; egg & nut free)
Ingredients:
1 pound extra lean ground turkey
1 (14 ounce) can of artichoke hearts, diced
¼ yellow onion, diced
4 T fresh basil, finely chopped
A few dashes of Mrs. Dash Table Blend OR 1 tsp dried parsley
Garlic Powder
salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
(I also used Basil Garlic Seasoning just for an extra dose of…basil and garlic)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute the diced onions and artichoke hearts over medium heat in olive oil. Once they’re done cooking (onions are translucent), combine them in a large bowl with the ground turkey and the rest of the ingredients. Mix them up with your hands and make palm-sized balls…I ended up with 14 though you can make them as small as you would like to have more. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes (since mine were bigger I ended up doing 20 minutes).
Pair them with spaghetti squash, homemade sauce (or salsa if you’re an addicted like me) and green bell peppers. So much better than any carb-loaded, fattening Italian dish and I think it’s much more yummy too!