I have recently discovered Gina's blog over at
Skinny Taste. What a treasure trove of delicious low-calorie dishes! I shall be cooking my way through her blog at my leisure. I made
her southwest turkey meatballs (more or less--mine ended up bigger, so I made fewer and cooked them longer), but substituted
my own cilantro dressing, lightened up.
Ingredients for Meatballs:1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
1 jalapeño, seeds removed (leave some in for spicier meatballs)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 tsp cumin*
pinch oregano
salt and fresh pepper
cooking spray
Directions for Meatballs:Lightly spray baking pan with oil. Preheat oven to 400°.
Place jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, and scallions into a small food processor or chopper and pulse a few times until finely minced.
In a large bowl combine turkey, chopped herbs, bread crumbs, egg, cumin, oregano, scallions, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix well and measure a hefty 1/4 cup meat, then divide in two so you end up with each meatball 1/8 cup in size. Roll and place on a baking pan.
Bake meatballs at 400° 25 minutes. Makes 18 meatballs, 24 calories each.
*(I only had 1/2 tsp cumin in my cupboard, so I haven't tried it with the full amount. What I used was delicious).
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Ingredients for Dipping Sauce1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
2-3 tomatillos (remove papery skin), rough chop
1 cup Kraft Free Mayo
1 cup light cultured buttermilk
½ bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
juice from 1 lime
½ jalapeno pepper (remove seeds for less fire... I removed the seeds; 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper without the seeds was plenty for our uber-gringo weak-sauce palates)
DirectionsDump everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate in air-tight container.
Makes 3 and half cups sauce,
10 calories per tablespoon.Total Calories: 24 per meatball, 10 per tbs dipping sauce!