chipotle feta meatballs

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Welcome to another Monday morning! Monday’s used to be kinda rough…. the weekend being gone and all, but now they’re not bad one bit, except for Jacob heading back to work.

Did you catch the weekend posts?

Sleep at 6 weeks

who does Hunter look like?

It’s time for meatball fans to rejoice.  I made these fantastic meatballs over the weekend and am so excited to share them. Really, the chipotle, feta and bacon combo was like no other.

A more recent new favorite in our house is beef bacon. I hadn’t set out looking for it, but one day I was at Chucks, my favorite new grocery store, and needed bacon (typically not my favorite thing). Turns out they don’t sell pork there, so it was down to beef or turkey bacon. Beef it was and ever since then we’ve been in love.

I had some help with this recipe. It’s Secret Recipe Club reveal day today and my assigned secret blog, Heavenly Treats and Treasures, is where I found this recipe. I resisted making something sweet (there are a ton of awesome looking treats on her site!) since we already had a batch of cookies in the kitchen, and am so happy I went with this savory dish – chipotle meatballs.

The added feta mixed with the heat from the chipotle worked perfectly together.  Meatball heaven!

Chipotle Feta Meatballs
Makes about 20 meatballs

adapted from Heavenly Treats and Treasures

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs
• ⅓ cup milk (I used almond milk)
• 4 slices beef bacon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup finely chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 ounces feta, crumbled
• 1 pounds ground beef

Directions

1. Stir panko bread crumbs and milk in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a saute pan or large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
3. Drain all except 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease from the pan. Add onion, chipotle, oregano, cumin and garlic to the same pan, over medium heat, and stir until the onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and add to the milk & bread crumb mixture.
5. Add feta, salt, and beaten egg to the chipotle mixture, stirring until just blended.
6. Add ground beef and bacon to the chipotle mixture and mix well with your hands.
7. Preheat broiler at 450 degrees F. Place a rack 4-6″ from the element. Line a sheet pan with foil, shiny side down (this makes cleanup a breeze), and coat lightly with oil. Roll meat mixture into 1 inch meatballs and place on pan.
8. Broil meatballs (without turning) until lightly browned and the meat is done, about 8-10 minutes.

I paired the meatballs with whole wheat linguiene and store bought roasted garlic sauce.  The sauce was okay, but the meatballs were amazing.

And because I was curious about what cut of meat beef bacon really is, here’s what I found out:

BEEF BACON

Beef bacon is a product made from the steer’s belly meat, close to the flank area. It is smoked and flavored with spices to taste like bacon. It is generally made by producers of healthier, grassfed beef, who create a “leaner, healthier bacon” (beef bacon is up to 90% leaner than pork bacon). Beef bacon also contains the Omega 3’s and CLA of grassfed beef. It can be found at health food stores, special-ordered from butchers, and ordered online from producers such as GrasslandBeef.com. — source

Three cheers for a healthier, and better tasting bacon in my opinion!

Have you ever tried or heard of beef bacon?

My abs are really sore today (and I like it!)… but more on that tomorrow 🙂

Heather

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