BAKED TURKEY MEATBALLS

Since we've had a few weeks away from turkey, post-Thanksgiving overdose, I thought it was time to add it back into our diet. I had lean ground turkey and decided to make baked meatballs. I had tons of fresh herbs and spices, but ran out of eggs. I have made turkey meatballs sans eggs before and it turns out fine, but the consistency is better when the ground meat has a binder. I had one lonely sweet potato in a bowl waiting to be eaten, so I opted to quickly steam it. I made a mash, and decided it could be a great binder to the turkey. And how it was. Save the eggs for an omelette!

Husband approved.

Makes about 15 meatballs

Ingredients: 

1 package organic ground turkey

1/2 vidalia onion, finely chopped 

1/2 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped 

Pinch of garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Sea salt to taste

Ground pepper to taste

1 tbsp chopped fresh sage

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1/4 tsp ground dried oregeno

1/4 tsp mustard seed powder

1 tsp organic tomato paste

1 orange sweet potato, mashed

1/2 tsp liquid aminos (tamari or soy sauce work too)

Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Use a steamer to steam the sweet potato, or you can boil, bake or microwave it. Once soft, let it cool. In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, spinach, onion, garlic powder, cumin, ginger, turmeric, sea salt, pepper, sage, thyme, oregeno, mustard seed powder, tomato paste, liquid aminos and the sweet potato. 

Oil a large baking pan or cover with foil. Using an ice-cream scooper or your hands, roll the turkey mixture into balls about 1 inch in size. Place on the baking pan and drizzle them with olive oil. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until white on the inside and brown on the outside.