Little Pots of Gold (Veggie Meatballs)

What is at the end of this rainbow of veggies? Delicious little meatballs! Ma would have never been able to make these little pots of gold but thanks to my amazing food processor I can!

This recipe was inspired by the recipe Garden Fresh Meatballs from Sarah of  Everyday Paleo.

Here is the rainbow of veggies I include in my version. There is a lot of green for extra luck and good health!

Roasted Red Peppers

Orange Carrots

Yellow Yams

Yellow/Green Artichoke Hearts

Green Zucchinis

Dark Green Kale

Deep Purple Cabbage

I don't worry about exact amounts I just put enough to fill my bowl. This batch ended up with:

1/2 of a LARGE jar of roasted red peppers (drained and purred)
3 peeled carrots (minced)
1 large peeled yam (grated)
1 small jar of artichoke hearts (drained and purred)
3 zucchinis (grated)
1 large bunch of Kale (minced including the stems)
half of a small purple cabbage (minced)

The other ingredients were:

4 cloves of garlic
3 lb of ground organic free range turkey
1 lb of ground grass-fed beef
4 eggs
1 cup of ground flax meal
fresh cracked sea salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 375
• Line rimmed pans with foil or get your glass or stone baking dishes out and ready
• Grate the yam and zucchini with a cheese grater or your food processor grating blade and dump this into a large bowl (I ended up needing to use my stock pot in the end to have enough room for the meat so go BIG)
• Mince the carrots, artichoke hearts, kale, cabbage, and garlic. I did each ingredient one at a time in my food processor and dumped them into my bowl one by one.
• Puree the roasted red peppers and add this to your bowl of veggies
• Mix the veggies until well combined
• Add the eggs, flax meal, ground turkey,and ground beef to the veggie mix. Season with salt and pepper and mix everything together. Sometimes a clean or gloved hand works best!

• Form the mix into the meatball sizes of your choice. The bigger you make them, the longer they will take to bake. If you have a melon baller or cookie dough scooper this works well too.
• Lay the meatballs on your pan or in your baking dish. You may have more meatballs than pans and dishes. This happened to me so I had to make a batch and then take them off the pan and use it again for another batch!
• Bake them in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes depending on the size of your meatballs. You can also make them into patties if you want and those will need 45 minutes for sure.
• Eat the meatballs hot out of the oven with some homemade mayo on top or sliced avocado. They are also pretty darn good plain!
• If you have leftovers you can line a cookie sheet or tray with wax or parchment paper and lay the meatballs on them in rows. Stick them in the freezer for at least a few hours to flash freeze them and then you can dump them all into labeled bags or containers for an easy meal or snack later on.

 I lost count of how many meatballs this batch made but I think it was about 80. We ate some of them and stored some in the fridge and froze the rest. They even taste good cold right out of the fridge! The frozen meatballs heat up nicely in the microwave. All of the veggies keep them moist and you get a complete meal all in one little ball! These little balls of goodness are nutritional gold!

When I cook I like to make A LOT of whatever I am making so it will last. We have 5 hungry people in this house, or 6 if you want to include our dog Ruby who successfully begs food from our toddler Jad on a daily basis! I also do not have much time to cook during the week so I like to make BIG batches of things a few times a week.

If you don't want to have so many meatballs this recipe is easily adjustable. Less veggies and meat will equal less meatballs!

Not meat fan? Try making this with out the meat! I would probably add a few extra eggs to help hold it all together.

Can't do eggs? Add some extra flax meal and maybe a little water to replace the eggs. Flax meal is a great egg re-placer in most recipes

Please let me know how yours turn out if you make them. Be creative and use the veggies you like best or happen to have laying around.