Monday, December 7, 2009

Meatballs with Cauliflower Rice

Well, I 'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but until tonight, I have not yet tried the cauliflower rice! I don't know why! I think I was afraid of the mess, or maybe even a little skeptical! Well, not anymore... I'm a fan! I used my food processor and it was quick, easy, and very little mess! I think it is a wonderful rice substitute with a great flavor and texture!

My meatballs tonight were interesting. I used up ingredients I had on hand. So these were a mixture of ground pork and ground turkey. It was an interesting, yet tasty combo! I don't think you can really go wrong with meatballs!

Cauliflower rice:
I head cauliflower
In a food processor with the shedding blade add pieces of the cauliflower. I microwaved the cauliflower on the vegetable setting. Do NOT add water. Just cover with some saran wrap, heat, fluff and serve! Easy!

Meatballs:
about 1-1/2 lb. ground pork
about 1-1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 celery stalks, copped fine
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
3 eggs
1/2 C almond meal
2 tsp garlic powder
1 T dried oregano
2 tsp ground black pepper
Mix together (with your hands) to form 2 inch balls. Put in baking dish.

Sauce: Start the sauce first!
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes (no added salt)
1-6 oz can tomato paste (no added salt)
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/2 C water
1 T Italian seasoning
1 tsp olive oil
ground black pepper and sea salt (optional) to taste
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer, until ready to pour over the meatballs.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pour sauce over meat balls and bake for 40-45 minutes. Serve with cauliflower rice and a side of salad or vegetable.
1 Cup of Cauliflower rice is only 5g carbs! So, enjoy! :-)

4 comments:

  1. This looks really good, Kelly. So did you boil or cook the cauliflower rice some particular way? We had it raw once and it was kind of hard to take down.

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  2. I just cooked it in the microwave like as a vegetable with NO water, covered with saran wrap (maybe 3 minutes at about 80% power). It is so moist, the steam did the best job cooking it. I just fluffed it with a fork and seasoned it a little with some pepper and a pinch of sea salt. It was tender, but not mushy! :-)

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  3. Okay, the cauliflower rice looks unbelievably rice-like in the small photo. I actually thought it was white rice when I first looked at the blog and was thinking, "Did Kelly have a carbohydrate breakdown?". Amazing!

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  4. natural vitamin sources is to eat garlic to taste great, even better than the antibiotics he is my miracle swine flu.

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