MEATBALLS
I think meatballs were the first dish to give me what I now refer to as “flour rage,” which is when you go Paleo and suddenly realize how much gluten, sugar, and dairy are in foods that really don’t need them. Milk in scrambled eggs; sugar in every sauce you’ll ever encounter; breadcrumbs in meatballs—sure, it gives them a great texture, but you can make a delicious meatball without any grains or gluten. Here’s how! SERVES 4
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 20 minutes
1 pound ground beef
½ onion, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh parsley, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- In a large bowl, stir together the beef, onion, ½ cup of parsley, garlic, egg, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined. Using your hands, pinch off palm-size pieces of the mixture and roll into meatballs. You’ll end up with 8 to 10 meatballs.
- In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Carefully add the meatballs to the pan, and brown on all surfaces, about 5 minutes per side.
- Remove from the heat, garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley, and serve.
VARIATION 1 MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE: After browning the meatballs, add a can of tomato sauce, or make your own from a can of diced tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes, and serve.
VARIATION 2 SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS: Make these in the morning, and have them ready at the end of the day. Simply layer the uncooked meatballs across the bottom of the slow cooker and cover with tomato sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours.
PALEO PAIR: Serve these meatballs on top of zucchini noodles with tomato sauce. If you don’t feel like zucchini, I actually love meatballs on top of Bacon Brussels Sprouts (here).
