Indian Style Meatballs with Roasted Garlic Cream

Let's talk about ground beef... 

When buying ground beef, the rule of thumb is to buy the best quality you can afford. Organic and - if you can find it - grass-fed.
If you shop at a butcher (or a grocery store with a real butcher) you should have them grind the beef for you. Pick out a piece of sirloin or chuck (or half chuck - half sirloin) and ask the butcher to put it through their grinder. This is the only way to make sure that the ground meat you’re buying is the meat that went into the grinder.
It can be more expensive than pre-packaged ground meat, but the latter can be a hazard (food poisoning and E. coli cases resulting from bad ground meat are so frequent). On top of that you’ll know that the meat has not been sitting on the shelf for days, which guarantees freshness. Ground meat is subject to the greatest amount of handling, which increases the risk of exposure to contamination. If instead you the process happens right in front of your eyes you’ll know that how many hands have touched it. Right?





One of the rules I live by is to consume less meat but of higher quality. That’s why I always choose grass-fed beef.
There’s a big fuss about 100% grass-fed animals; They’ve been getting a lot of attention in sustainable food circles lately. The current thought is that it’s best for the animal to eat exclusively grass.
When that happens, the meat is said to have more nutrients that when they’re eating grains (let alone GMO soy or corn), including omega-3 fatty acids and CLA.
Grass-fed meat is less fatty, and has much stronger flavor.
Imho, it tastes like real meat. It’s the real deal. If you ask me, I'll tell you that if you decide to include meat in your diet you might as well do it properly. End of the story.

After this pep talk on ground beef, it’s about time to get started with our meatballs. What I really like about them is the blend of Indian spices paired with the sweet potato. It’s a perfect Indianish flavor combination.
I paired them with some roasted garlic cream: uber easy to make and pretty light too.
The slight tangy taste of Greek yogurt adds a bit of freshness that helps spices flavors pop-up.
Serve these meatballs with some greens on the side, and you’ll get a complete meal out if. Flavorful, unexpected and very successful.

Indian Style Meatballs With Roasted Garlic Cream           Print this recipe!

Ingredients
Make 22 bite size meatballs

½ lb / 226 gr organic grass-fed ground beef
1 large free-range egg
1 small sweet potato
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
⅔ cup plain greek yogurt
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon maple syrup
extra salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions

Cook the sweet potato in a pot of salted water until tender, about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, roast the garlic in a heavy skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until you get black spots all over, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, remove the papery skins and smush into a paste. Combine yogurt with roasted garlic cloves, maple syrup and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth then set aside until ready to use.
Once the sweet potato is cooked, peel and mash using the tines of a fork.
Transfer to a large bowl and add ground beef, egg, onion, spices and salt. Mix until well combined.
Scoop 1 heaping tablespoon of meat mixture and form meatballs about 1-inch wide.
In a large pan (or skillet) heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook meatballs in batches until golden, this will take about 15 to 20 minutes minutes.
Serve hot with the roasted garlic cream.

Nutrition Facts

One meatball scores the following nutrition facts: 36 calories, 1.7 grams of fat, 1.3 grams of carbs and 3.5 grams of protein.