Ethnic Foods

You may have noticed by now that I like a lot of diversity in my foods. I can't eat the same thing, or even the same kinds of things over and over, I get bored and unhappy; which makes me reach for easy, interesting, likely fattening things. So I like to experiment with not only making your typical American, Italian and Mexican cuisine....I like Indian, Moroccan, Greek, Mediterranean, Asian, Irish, Russian....so on and so forth!
We're coming up fast on St. Patrick's Day, so you'll be seeing some tasty Irish dishes come out there.
But tonight we're going to take a taste bud-trip to eastern Europe. I'm adapting a recipe I found in Mellisa Joulwan's book Well Fed; for Czech Meatballs. I'm making up a sauce to dip them in, since they seemed to call for a little something extra in my opinion. And I'm serving them with some riced cauliflower, to which I added some fresh chopped veggies.

Czech Meatballs
Adapted from Melissa Joulwan's book Well Fed

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. fennel or caraway seeds
1 tsp. ground paprika
1 Tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 C. fresh parsley leaves, minced
1 Tbsp. grainy mustard (I'm using Hubby's favorite Guinness Mustard, straight from Ireland!)
1 large egg
1 1/2 lbs. ground pork

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
In large bowl, mix garlic, salt, fennel, paprika, parsley, pepper, mustard and egg. Crumble pork into bowl with your hands, and knead until ingredients are well combined.
Form meat mixture into meatballs, no larger than 1 inch. Line meatballs up on baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart.
Slide tray into oven, and bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.



Dipping Sauce:
Ingredients:
1/2 C. Paleo Mayo
2 Tbsp. grainy mustard (the same as added to meatballs)
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce (something like Sriracha)

Mix all ingredients together with a fork, just dip meatballs in.



Veggie Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients:
1 large head fresh cauliflower
1 Tbsp. + 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium green bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 medium carrot, grated
1/4 cup shelled edamame
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Break cauliflower into florets, removing stems. Place florets, in batches, into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until cauliflower resembles rice, about 10-15 one second pulses. Do not overcrowd the food processor! You will make cauliflower mush that way.
Heat a large skillet over med-hi heat. Add 1 Tbsp. coconut oil and allow it to melt. Add all veggies to pan and cook about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent.
Push veggies to side of pan, add remaining 1 Tbsp. coconut oil, and dissolve salt and pepper in it. Then stir everything back together. Toss in riced cauliflower and cook until tender, about 8-10 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Serve warm.

Also: my quick and easy meal the other night did, in fact, help me to finish Pixie's St. Paddy's tutu! I think its completely adorable, but I have to find an equally adorable shirt to pair it with. Will post pics of the completed outfit later!