Tuesday: Moroccan Meatballs

You can serve these over any grain, I am going with couscous because I have some awesome garlic stuff and I like to type couscous almost as much as I like to say it. These are fast, don't have many ingredients, but aren't your typical meatball, so nice for a weekday meal.

 

You will need:

1 lb extra-lean ground beef ( or ½ and ½ with veal)

2 ½ tsp paprika (I'm using smoked, so they will be spicy)

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

Black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped (grating is also an option if you have a finicky eater or two)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tomato (not roma), chopped

3 oz tomato paste (1/2 can)

 

Put your meat in a bowl and mix in 1 1/2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt and some black pepper. Shape them into 24 little one-inch balls. Should you have a handy-dandy scoop that will do it for you, so much the better.

 

 

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and saute the onion for two minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Just one! Stir in the tomato, tomato paste and 3/4 c water. 

Side note / tangent: most recipes call for seeding your tomatoes. I never do this because I've read that that's is where all the nutrition and flavour is, including glutamates, etc. Specifically it is contained in the goo surrounding the seeds. Plus I am lazy about that sort of thing. However, should you want no seeds and their accompanying nutritional goo, here is how you can do it easily. Cut the tomato in half across it's middle. Like it has a green hat and you are about to pull it off. Not lengthwise. Use a spoon edge to scrape out all the seeds from the tunnels on each side and then chop. 

Add in the remaining spices and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs, cover and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes, until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Pour over your fluffy couscous or other grain and enjoy. I parceled this out to 4 servings of 6 meatballs each with sauce, each serving coming to 247 calories, which leaves plenty of room for 1/2 c of couscous ( I really do like that word) and some steamed veggies. Yay us!