Avocado Cilantro Meatballs

I'm not sure if I ever told you about my love of meatballs. My grandma's were the best-the gold standard-which sadly I've never been able to duplicate. Pretty much the only thing I missed while being a vegetarian was meatballs. (I'm sorry, there are no good vegetarian versions-I think I've tried them all.)

I love to make buffalo meatballs for parties as I told you when I shared my Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf recipe.  This weekend my friend was coming up the lake for some girl time. I've made avocado spaghetti with zucchini noodles for her once & knew I wanted to make it again. It's a light & healthy dinner that's delicious. I'll share that recipe the next time I make it. Which will be soon, so check back. Last time I made grilled chicken breast with it & while we could have had that again, I just bought some ground turkey at Costco this week & knew I needed to make meatballs!

These are made the same way I make the Buffalo meatballs. I use a yogurt based dressing along with an egg & either panko or some other binder-like oatmeal or bread ground in the VitaMix. 

1 pound ground turkey or chicken

1/2 C Avocado Cilantro dressing-I use Bolthouse Farms

1 large egg

1/3 C panko or breadcrumbs

S&P

chopped cilantro-about a handful
1 C chicken broth

**As with all of my recipes, feel free to change the quantities to suit your taste & texture needs for these**

I mix quickly & gently with a fork then roll into balls. I sear them in hot oil because I like to have a crisp to them. The searing doesn't take too long & I like to finish them by steaming. I remove them from the pan & add the chicken broth (or you can use water) to the hot pan, quickly add in the meatballs & cover to capture the steam. The I reduce the heat & let them simmer for about 10 minutes-it just depends on how big your meatballs are, but you don't want to overcook them.

We ate these later all by themselves as a snack. They are definately delicious & are great for dinner & parties alike!