Cauliflower, Spinach and Turkey Meatballs
One of my favorite ways to play in the kitchen is finding ways to include vegetables like spinach and cauliflower in recipes. It still surprises me how easy it is to do. These meatballs are one of the most popular options.
Perhaps the easiest method is to include both in ground meat of any kind. Since I rarely use beef, my choice for this recipe was ground turkey. Whether a meat loaf, meatballs, or simple ground chunks, cauliflower is a wonderful addition.When you think of the strong aroma of cauliflower, you might not expect it to blend so well with other foods, but strangely, it does. It actually seems to absorb the flavor even. You can see that in my recipes here for Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower Fried Rice. In those two dishes especially, I doubt anyone you serve would even know its there.
Hidden nutrition packed inside
Personally I love the taste of it any way it is served, from raw to steamed. But many don’t because of the scent that accompanies it. In that case, this recipe is another easy way to include it.The recipe here uses a relatively small amount of cauliflower and spinach. Once you’ve tried it you can increase the portions of the vegetables and cut the amount of meat included. Or simply make a bigger batch with more veggies and freeze them. Instead of one cup of each, I do one and a half cups now, and increase the mushrooms to one cup as well. Even a half pound of turkey as I used, it is still plenty for flavor, yet you get more of the nutritious vegetables, and lower fat and calories.
I like the ease of baking the meatballs too. If you prefer you can fry them in a skillet. Once they are cooked, keep out enough for a meal or two and freeze the rest. If you spread them flat on a plate while they freeze, covered of course, you can then put them in a ziplock bag or container to keep them. Toss them frozen into your sauce when you want them next, or thaw in the refrigerator.
Click here for the complete recipe.
To prepare the cauliflower for the meatballs, it needs to be grated finely. You can either chop it that way with a knife, use an actual grater, or do it the easy way, with a blender. I used my favorite Ninja Master Prep Professional. You can see how it worked in the many photos I’ve added to it. In under twelve seconds it was ‘riced’ for the meatballs. It’s what I used for the cauliflower fried rice too. I use it for everything from blending frozen butter and flour for scones, to chopping vegetables. Still can’t get over how well it works or fast it does it!
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