Saturday, April 25, 2009

Saturday

Mediterranean meatballs with yogurt sauce (recipe in the comments)
Greek festival orzo
Grilled neon eggplant with lemon

Hot tea
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This originally came out of one of those little recipe booklets you get at the check out in the grocery store. Most of these are put put by product manufacturers and highlight their ingredients. Some, like this one - Culinary Journey to the Mediterranean - actually have several good recipes. We got this one while we were still in college and have a few recipes from it that we make on a pretty regular basis. It amazes me to think how long we've held on to this tiny booklet! Anyway, this is a great dish, that is billed as an appetizer for a party, but functions very well as a main course. The yogurt has lots of veggies in it and the whole meal gives us an excuse to have Greek orzo and grilled eggplant - two favorite things. We were realizing as we made this that we think it's been close to five years since we last made this, though it used to be much more frequent in the rotation. It should be re-visited more quickly next time!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Parsley, garlic, tomato, cucumber, eggplant
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: You could make it all ahead and warm up or serve the meatballs at room temp.

Reaction
J: "Five years? We waited five years???"
M: "A bit of Greek!"

1 comment:

J said...

Mediterranean Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce – Athenos (with help from M & J)
Serves 3

Meatballs:
1 lb lean ground meat (bison or turkey both work well)
½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 egg
¼ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (Panko ok)
5 cloves garlic, minced in the food processor before you start the yogurt
½ t salt
Pepper, to taste (we note “Lots!”)
1 T Extra virgin olive oil

Yogurt sauce:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
Scant ½ cup crumbled feta
¾ cup yogurt
2 T milk
1 small tomato, seeded and chopped
½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 t dry dill

Mix all meatball ingredients except oil in a large bowl. Shape into 20 (or so) 1” meatballs. Heat oil in a large flat-bottomed skillet. Cook meatballs over medium-low heat 12-15 minutes or until cooked through and browned.

Place garlic for yogurt in a food processor and mince. Add feta, yogurt, and milk. Process until smooth. Transfer to a medium serving bowl and stir in tomatoes, cucumber, and dill. Stir well and taste for seasoning. I usually add a small amount of salt. Serve meatballs with sauce.