Chicken-Quinoa Meatballs

Last night we made the Chicken-Quinoa Meatballs recipe using some of the products that the people at Organic Valley sent me.

This recipe appealed to me because you start out with 12 oz of chicken and you use quinoa as a filler to turn it into enough meat for 6 people! Organic meat is expensive, there is no way around that! And because we have decided that meat is one of the important things for us to purchase organic I am always looking for creative ways to stretch that meat! This is similar in concept to a porcupine meatball (meat and rice) but what I like about using quinoa is that you are still getting so much protein, plus you could not even tell the quinoia was in there!

The Organic Valley recipe suggests a tomato sauce and it looks delicious...I fully intended to make that. But I had some organic spinach and basil on hand and since it was St. Patrick's day I served the meatballs with a pesto sauce on pasta instead! Since I did not make the sauce in the directions I could not simmer the meatballs in the sauce, I just roasted them in the oven at 425 until they were cooked through.

They were delicious!

Here is the recipe from their site, if you like you can check it out on the Organic Valley Website because they have nutritional info and serving suggestions too:

Ingredients:
For meatballs:

12 ounces Organic Valley Ground Chicken Chub (thawed)

1/2 medium onion (minced)

1 cup quinoa (cooked)

1/3 teaspoon black pepper (ground)

2/3 teaspoon garlic (granulated)

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 large Organic Valley Grade A Extra Large Brown Egg

For the sauce:

1 teaspoon garlic (granulated)

1 teaspoon Organic Valley Salted Butter

1 teaspoon black pepper (ground)

1/2 medium onion (minced)

28 ounces tomato puree

10 drops Stevia extract

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 large red bell pepper (chopped)

Instructions:
Place thawed 12 oz. Organic Valley Chicken Chub in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add minced onion, pre-cooked quinoa, spices and finally an Extra Large Organic Valley egg. Mash and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Now it's time to prepare the sauce:Place 1 teaspoon of Organic Valley Butter in a large sauce pan (or Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add onion and chopped red bell pepper, saute until tender. Stirring slowly, add tomato puree and spices. Mix in the balsamic vinegar and Stevia extract. Please note: if you would like to replace the Stevia extract, add 1 tablespoon honey. Reduce heat and cover.

Back to the meatballs:

Remove from the refrigerator and place a small bowl of water near your work station. Wet hands (regularly) and form the chicken mixture into small balls (approx. 1 tablespoonful of mixture). Place formed balls into simmering sauce and cover. Let simmer until cooked through (35-45) minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally to encourage even heating and to prevent sticking, yet be mindful that the meatballs may come apart if stirred too often (especially during the first 15 minutes). Once cooked throughout, uncover and let cool for 10 minutes pior to serving.

Also if you have not yet entered please head over to my giveaway of Organic Valley Products! 2 lucky readers will win 5 free item coupons from Organic Valley!