Weekend recipe: turkey meatballs

I need to air something out straight away: This recipe was inspired by those soft processed meat sticks sold as toddler food but are really Vienna sausages.

Now, let me explain. My husband and I passed them on a recent trip for baby supplies and I remember thinking, "Wow! Are those what I think they are? For babies?"

And while the snacks are marketed as healthy, easy ways to get your child to eat meat, I think you could still smoosh them onto a Ritz cracker and dot them with hot sauce.

But enough judgment, they got me thinking about what I could make that would deliver protein, allow Josie to eat with her hands and give me piece of mind that there are no unrecognizable animal parts (or lots of salt) in them.

To make it more of a challenge on myself, I also began plotting a way to sneak in vegetables. Not that I'm really worried about Josie rejecting veggies...yet. It's just that I've got a freezer of vegetable purees, she no longer will stand to be fed. (This goes back to her recent discovery of I-can-do-it-myself-edness.)

For more inspiration, I looked to my dad. While there are tons of trickery cook books out today that have recipes for brownies concealing spinach or mac'n'cheese(n'carrots), my dad invented "the sneak" as far as I'm concerned. I'm not braggin' or nothing. He was a master of getting veggies in very non-veggie stuff.

Though, to be fair, points would have to be deducted for his meatballs that were either alien shades of green or orange thanks to the plants lurking inside. The meatballs tasted great and, fortunately, my brother and I were intrigued by the color spectrum they painted on our plates.

Turkey meatballs

This recipe can make meatballs for the whole family. I made them for dinner in two sizes: nickel-sized for baby and tangerine-sized for grown-ups. I mixed one big batch out of the raw ingredients, but cooked them differently. For babies, I simmered them in unsalted chicken broth until they were thoroughly poached. For grown-ups, I baked them and then added them to a spicy marinara.

Time

Less than an hour

Ingredients and Equipment

- 1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey (We used very lean, 93/7 blend)

- 1 piece of whole wheat bread, dried out and pulsed into crumbs in a food processor

- 1 egg

- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

- 2 cubes pureed butternut squash (about two tablespoons)

- 2 cubes pureed sweet green peas (about two tablespoons)

- salt-free Italian herb seasoning (just a few pinches)

- several cups of salt-free or low sodium chicken broth

- food processor

- sauce pot

- slotted spoon

Directions

- Mix the ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, olive oil, vegetable purees and seasoning in a mixing bowl. Combine using your hands to make sure everything is incorporated, but do not go crazy and over mix.

- Roll nickel-sized meatballs in the palms of your hands until relatively smooth. Lay them on parchment paper or a plate or really any clean, flat surface

- Bring the chicken broth up to a steady simmer, NOT A BOIL. Liquid that is bubbling and rolling too rapidly could cause the meatballs to break apart.

- Add just a few raw meatballs at a time to the simmering broth. They should float to the top, but make sure they have fully cooked before removing them. I allowed mine to simmer for at least 10 minutes (out of an abundance of caution). You may want to test the first one or two to make sure you have the timing down.

- Let cool and serve. I cut them in half for Josie, but older kids may be OK with whole ones.

As Josie gets older, I think I'll experiment with sauces and presentation, but I still think I may be employing "the sneak."