Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Peanut Sauce

Mornin’, Monday. Grumble, grumble. After a 2-day work week last week, this is going be a rough one – last week of teaching and starting to lead a 7-week weight management course on Tuesday nights. At least this weekend was a blast and my cousin’s wedding in Chicago was wonderful. They were married by a monk and it was the first at-home wedding I’ve ever attended. I just love weddings, especially weddings that are so unique 🙂

This post is about 3 weeks late, but don’t let that fool you. These are healthy, fun, and like my cousin’s wedding, totally unique. The night we enjoyed these Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Peanut Sauce was our anniversary meal that accompanied Pepperoni Pizza Puffs! I found this recipe in Rachel Ray’s magazine, Every Day, and the ingredient list caught my eye. I’m not normally a meatball fan, but these are a BIG exception! So, so good!

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Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Peanut Sauce from Rachel Ray

1 lb ground chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated onion
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp creamy, all-natural peanut butter
1 1/2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp peanuts, chopped, for garnish

Directions:

Mix chicken, cilantro, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, salt and pepper; roll into 1-tablespoon balls. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add meatballs and cook through, 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients (except peanuts) and warm in microwave. Toss meatballs with half of sauce and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve on toothpicks with remaining sauce for dipping. Yield: 20 meatballs with dipping sauce.

Nutrition Information (per meatball): 71 calories; 5 g. fat; 13 mg. cholesterol; 90 mg. sodium; 3.4 g. carbohydrate; 0.4 g. fiber; 5.8 g. protein

Result: Thumbs up! I must say, these surpassed my expectations. I knew they would be good, but they were so flavorful and good. I lightened these up a bit by making less sauce and it was more than enough to go around. I highly recommend these! Enjoy!

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This week at work I am making protein slushies as a taste-test for my patients. I am using ProStat which is a medical, predigested liquid protein supplement that I will blend with fruit juice and ice. It’s hard to get loads of protein (100-ish grams) in my patients each day, so this should be an interesting taste test!

Question: What’s your favorite appetizer?

Have a great week!

Be well,