Author Notes
I bought grass-fed beef at the farmer's market this week and want to experiment with some replacements to oats and breadcrumbs in my meatball recipes. This is my interesting result. It is inspired by the falafel. —Sagegreen
Ingredients
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3/4 cup
garbanzo beans, cooked
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juice from 1 lime
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2 teaspoons
agave nectar
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1/2 cup
cooked brown rice
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1 pound
grass-fed ground beef
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1
egg, beaten
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1/2 cup
cooked preferably shortgrain brown rice
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1
clove garlic, peeled and smashed
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1/2 teaspoon
ground cumin
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1/2 teaspoon
ground coriander
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1 tablespoon
grated ginger
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1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt, or to taste
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pinch freshly milled black pepper
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1 tablespoon
capers, chopped
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4 tablespoons
gluten free AP flour seasoned with salt and pepper, or gravy flour of your choice
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3 tablespoons
agave nectar
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3/4 cup
dry white wine
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3/4 cup
Greek yogurt, fage
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1 tablespoon
AP gluten free flour
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2 tablespoons
lime juice
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2 tablespoons
fresh cilantro, chopped
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2 tablespoons
fresh flat parsley, chopped
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lime wedges for garnish
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2 tablespoons
grapeseed oil for browning
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use tahini dressing as nondairy alternative sauce
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and serve with a cucumber raita
Directions
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Process the cooked garbanzo beans (can be homemade or even canned) coarsely in a blender with the juice of lime and 2 tsp. of agave nectar. Mix in the cooked brown rice.
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Add the bean mixture to the beef, cooked rice, beaten egg, cumin, coriander, capers, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix gently but thoroughly with very clean hands.
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Roll these into 1" meatballs and then roll evenly into a mix of the seasoned flour.
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Brown these in a hot frying pan using grapeseed oil.
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Add the wine to deglaze. Add 3 tbl. agave nectar. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or so. Stir in the yogurt.
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Add 1 tbl. dry flour to a 2 tbl. lime juice and stir into pan to thicken. Simmer gently for @ 25 minutes.
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Add 1 tbl. each of cilantro and parsley just before the meatballs serving. Serve with your favorite pasta. A lemon-parsley couscous would be lovely. Garnish with lime wedges, and the remaining fresh cilantro and parsley.
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For a nondairy alternative sauce, you could substitute tahini (creamy puree of sesame seeds mixed with equal parts of water, flavored with lime and garlic) as is typical with falafel.
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Any leftover meatballs can be served in pita pockets with a sesame tahini sauce and/or a cucumber raita.
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