Paleo Asian Meatballs with Butternut squash and Sweet Potato Glass Noodles

I told you guys I'd be making some more recipes from this Asian-inspired Paleo blog! This recipe did not disappoint either. There are five ingredients to chop and dice, so I went ahead and used the food processor to help me out. Like the recipe notes below, just hit the pulse button a few times when using the food processor, so you are not left with a watery mess. Next comes forming the meatballs, which is always the longest step for me since I typically triple recipes to get enough food. The recipe as-is below will get you 18 two-inch sized meatballs though, so if that is all you need then forming meatballs should be a breeze. I did not use the muffin tin technique as described below, but that is because I had a lot more meatballs to bake then I did muffin tins. I thought using a baking sheet was just the same anyways, and I still turned the meatballs over as the directions instructed. These meatballs had a ton of flavor and were absolutely delicious paired with butternut squash noodles. I personally just heated some frozen plain Butternut Squash noodles with some coconut oil and garlic, until warm. Even if you would typically not pair with butternut squash, I totally recommend giving it a try this time. It was a nice sweet flavor with the meatballs and really brought the meal together since there was not any sauce. I also boiled some Sweet Potato Glass Noodles to get some more carbs with the meal, but you can easily throw in any additional noodle or rice that you want with this. If you have the patience to do some dicing and form the meatballs, then this is definitely a recipe worth trying. This one was a big hit this week! 

​Paleo Asian Meatballs with Butternut squash and Sweet Potato Glass Noodles
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 cup carrots, finely chopped
• Half 1 whole small yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup Italian flat parsley, finely chopped
• 3 bulbs scallions, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• Coconut oil (to grease the muffin tin)

Meatball seasonings:

• 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp sweet potato flour or arrowroot flour, (optional item)

Optional pairing:

• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Butternut squash, sweet potato, or turnip spiralized noodles
• Cooking fat of your choice to saute the noodles

Directions:

1. Finely chop carrots, yellow onion, flat parsley, scallions, and prepare grated ginger. If use a food processor, toss the ingredients a few times but do not over process them. It will be too watery. 
2. Preheat oven to 410 F/210 C. Combine ground beef, ingredients under “Meatball seasonings”, and ingredients from Step 1. Combine and mix well.
3. Lightly grease a muffin tin with coconut oil. Use your hands to gently apply some pressure to form the meatballs. Make sure the chopped veggies and the ground meat are coherent well. Form about 18 individual meatballs.* 
4. Bake the meatballs in the muffin tin. First side about 15 minutes. Use a small spoon to carefully flip them and bake the flip side for an additional 10 minutes. 
5. In the meantime, heat ½ tbsp cooking oil in a large skillet over high heat. When hot, lower the heat to medium, add minced garlic and squash noodles. Give them a quick stir-fry until the noodles are softened yet still crisp. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. 
6. To serve: scoop out the meatball juice inside the muffin tin and use that as dressing over meatballs and noodles.

Notes:
* If you find it difficult to form meatballs without them falling apart, you can either add a bit more sesame oil or arrowroot flour/powder.
** To make the meatballs ahead, complete the entire cooking process, let cool,  and store them in glass and air-tight containers. Be sure to drizzle over some meatball juice before sending them to the freezer.
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Original recipe found here