I Don't Plate (aka Chicken Meatballs)

I could never be a chef. I don't plate. I just slam everything on the table (sometimes still in the pot, sometimes in a serving dish, sometimes on a plate--depends on how many witnesses there are) and say "Dinnnnneeeeeer".  Then the pitter patter of feet find their way into the kitchen, or dining room, as the case may be, and they eat. Sometimes they like it. Sometimes they don't. Backup plans include Cheerios with milk, yogurt, cheese sticks and fruit. I do NOT cook two meals, even if the first one is a disaster.  And since I have my share of disasters, I have decided to actually practice what I want to cook on Thanksgiving.

This involves something called "planning ahead".  Oi. What a concept!

This whole planning thing is kind of a pain in the neck on Sunday mornings but let me tell you what a great feeling it is on Wednesday. All I have to do on Wednesday morning is look at my weekly plan and know exactly what I'm gonna cook and eat for the day. It's like a to-do list, but the to-do list involves puttering in the kitchen on autopilot.  It's sort of like not having to make any decisions, ever, because you already made them on Sunday. To quote En Vogue: "Free your mind...and the rest will follow!"

This completely batty planning thing also means that I can eat my foods in new and unusual combinations. I don't necessarily have to eat vegetables from the nightshade family just because it's turkey day. I might just throw caution to the wind and eat something from the mustard family on turkey day. Take THAT rotation diet!

Anyway, since by the old plan's rules, broccoli, cabbage, and garlic were only eaten on pork/lamb day, I could never have made this recipe. But the new liberated me actually put broccoli in this chicken recipe, which felt a little like breaking Biblical dietary laws. But it's amazing how fast you can get used to heretical food.  And it doesn't take a generation, it only takes a day and a half. Now I completely understand why Christians don't keep Kosher. Once you go rogue, the rules change permanently.

Gluten-free Chicken Meatballs on a Veggie Nest

1 lb. ground chicken
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
1 large or 2-3 small cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 t. salt
white pepper to taste
1 egg

1/4 c. coconut flour
2 T sunflower oil
1/2 lb. peapods
1 small bag of chopped broccoli slaw from the produce dep't at your local grocer

Now, please don't misunderstand. I do not plan to make chicken meatballs on Thanksgiving. But moving the vegetables of the lettuce family to pork day so I could practice Belgian Endive au Gratin with Prosciutto in preparation for Thanksgiving paved the way for the cabbage family to land on chicken day.

Okay, ready?

Drop the ground chicken in a large bowl. Put in the ginger and the garlic. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over everything. Make a well in the chicken with your fist and crack in the egg.  Toss in the coconut flour. Take off your wedding ring and use your hands to mix and mash it all together.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Make meatballs about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and toss them onto the cookie sheets.  Put them in the oven and reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, heat the sunflower oil in a large saute pan.  Reduce heat to medium high and add the peapods to the pan.  After 3 to 4 minutes, add the broccoli slaw and continue cooking another 6 to 8 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and cover until the meatballs are done.

Take the meatballs out of the oven and serve over clumps of pretty veggie "nests" with Tamari soy sauce as a condiment.

Voila.  They look plated, don't they?