What I’m Cooking this Weekend

I love doing preview posts about what I’m going to cook for a couple reasons, but mostly because it keeps me accountable. I can’t brag about what I’m going to cook and then not cook it. Well, I can but I’d feel like a failure and no one wants that! This weekend, I’m going to use the ground turkey that is currently thawing in my fridge and make baked turkey meatballs. I’m particularly excited because this recipe (courtesy of Pinterest, of course) does not require me to stand in front of the stove watching these babies while I’m secretly terrified of burning them. Woohoo! As for what I’ll serve them with,  I like the idea of slicing them in half and serving with pasta.

Baked Turkey Meatballs (via Anita at Home Cooking Memories)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 16 oz frozen chopped spinach (defrosted, drained, and squeezed to remove excess water)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet by spraying with cooking spray. I actually line my baking sheet with foil and then spray with cooking spray.
2. In a frying pan on medium heat, heat olive oil until hot. Then add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Sauté until onion is tender (about 5-6 minutes total time).
3. Add spinach to pan and combine with onion mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce and chicken broth and mix well to combine. Cook until most of the liquid has cooked out (evaporated). I don’t have much liquid in my pan after I combine all these, but it will depend on how well you drained your spinach. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
4. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread crumbs, and egg. Add cooled onion/spinach mixture to the meat. I do all of this step with my hands, but you can use a spoon if you prefer.
5. With your hands, create meatballs that are about 1 – 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place them on the baking sheet. Leave a little bit of space between each meatball. When you are done shaping your meatballs, you will probably have about 40-42 meatballs from this recipe. Don’t need that many? Freeze them after baking or cut this recipe in half (but I say freeze them and then you’ve done the work only once and have a future meal).
6. Bake until your meatballs are cooked through with an internal temperature of 160 degrees F – which was about 20 minutes for my oven. Remove from oven and serve as desired.

I’m also going to cook up a big pot of what is quickly becoming one of my favorite recipes ever — lentil soup. This time I’m going to use the basic steps from the recipe I love so much and add a couple elements from the Smitten Kitchen recipe (mainly the sausage and the use of a can of crushed tomatoes). I have a feeling the result will be delicious. What are you making this weekend?