Kid-Friendly Food: Turkey Meatballs with Cilantro

I don’t know what it is about meatballs, but they seem to be the “it” food these days. I’ve seen recipes for meatball sliders teased on the cover of glossy food magazines and every Food Network personality seems to have a variation; Giada De Laurentis makes Mini Meatball Subs, Rachael Ray has her Spanikopita Chicken Meatballs, and Mario Batali, maybe most tempting of all, has a recipe for Lemon-Scented Meatballs.

Mario's seem most like the meatballs I grew up eating, the Italian-style ones my mother would make for our Sunday gravy, with the exception that she used beef rather than veal - they were big, tender and simply seasoned with garlic, parsley and Parmesan cheese. I still haven’t nailed down her recipe (she never wrote it down, it seems), but these might come close.

I’ve been playing with the traditional Italian meatball ingredients; switching them out for Asian and Latin flavors. After all, every ethnic cuisine includes seasoned meat rolled into balls.

Even better, meatballs couldn’t be more family-friendly; I like to make a big batch and freeze some for a quick and healthy “emergency” meal, served with brown rice and sauteed spinach.

I use ground turkey thigh in this recipe, it's a lower-fat alternative to beef and the dark meat produces a juicy meatball.

Turkey Meatballs with Cilantro

1/3 cup fine breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the breadcrumbs and milk in a small bowl; soak 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine turkey, onions, cilantro, garlic, egg, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Add breadcrumb mixture and mix until combined; form 1 1/2-inch diameter meatballs.

Heat the oil a 12-inch nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Arrange meatballs in pan and cook until browned on all sides and cooked through, 7-10 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

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It's All About the Meat

My son J was sitting at the kitchen table with the pieces of his latest Lego spaceship spread all around, when he suddenly shouted out "Hey, where's the meat? Are we having MEAT for dinner!?

I had just returned from firing up the grill with some fine Kingsford mesquite charcoal, and a smoky halo had apparently clung to me like good karma on the Dalai Lama. I suppose the scent was enought to tickle his nostrils and trigger what I think is his almost primal, instinctive need for animal flesh.

I wish I could phrase it more delicately, because it really does surprise me a little. Ever since my children were able to use their pincer grip on small pieces of food, they've been wild about eating meat. They pretty much start growling when I casually mention that I might be cooking up some bacon in the near future. When my first-born was a mere babbling infant, she reached across the table to grab a bloody-red squab leg that I had prepared for her dad's birthday. She had to advance to the age of two before she could ask for a pile of bacon for her lunch whenever we took her out to a restaurant.

It's not that we discourage that sort of behavior or anything, but my personal desire for meat products tends to be more moderate. I've been known to create entire meals around a block of semi-firm tofu and a can of chickpeas. But, inevitably, there are days when nothing but a side of cow or pig will satisfy.

Today, for instance. I saw the cover of the June Food and Wine magazine and knew I had to taste that glistening pile of ribs. I made a special trip to my local international food store to find the canned guava paste, but, man was it worth it. This recipe is outrageously good. The guava barbecue sauce is tangy-sweet, and forms a very appealing crackly crust on the ribs, which are falling-apart succulent. "Juicy and a little saucy" is how my son described them.
And my daughter is already planning her next birthday dinner with these ribs as the highlight.
We had these for dinner with a big bowl of cole slaw.