It's getting a little paleo around here + Asian meatballs with "zoodles"

Zack and I thought we ate healthy before. But since we jumped on this low-carb, low-sugar bandwagon a couple weeks ago, my viewpoint has completely changed. We're getting down to pretty bare bones, meat and vegetables. You know you're eating paleo when you have shredded vegetables in place of pasta. You may find, however, that it's surprisingly delicious and satisfying.

Asian meatballs

As adapted from Nom Nom Paleo.

Makes 36 meatballs.

Ingredients for meatballs:

8-10 fresh shiitake mushrooms, minced

2 small (or 1 medium) shallot, minced

3/4 cup minced sweet potato

2 heaping tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

2 lbs. ground beef

1 1/2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, brush with melted coconut oil, and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss minced vegetables and herbs in a large bowl to combine. Add ground beef, soy sauce, tomato paste, and season with salt and pepper. Thoroughly combine ingredients, being sure to not overwork the meat. Roll out 3 dozen meatballs and place on foil-lined baking sheet. Each meatball should be about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Bake for about 20 minutes, until cooked through and browned, rotating baking sheet about halfway through. (If you want, you can reserve half of the raw meatballs, freeze on a baking sheet, toss them in a freezer bag, and save to pull out, thaw, and bake laker.) Serve with "zoodles" or on a bed of cabbage slaw, etc. and drizzle with sriracha.

For "zoodles:"

Wash zucchini, slicing off ends. Use a mandolin to julienne zucchini. Heat coconut oil or bacon fat (oh my) in a sauté pan over medium heat. Briefly sauté zucchini until crisp-tender, tossing frequently, about 4 minutes. Serve with meatballs.

Meatballs, minus the sriracha.

As I noted above, you can freeze half of the meatball batch, which is what I did, and Zack and I have gotten 4 meals (each) out of this recipe! Talk about good use of your time; it's so easy. Plus, these meatballs are pretty darn delicious. 

I love that they are packed with vegetables, but the meaty flavor is great. They hold well, and they have great texture. Plus, you can get a really good kick by drizzling with sriracha. This is a great recipe that I will definitely make again. They're wonderfully satisfying as a main, but they would be awesome appetizers as well. Well, I guess this is one not meatless Monday, but I'm so okay with it. Cheers!

Mediterranean Burgers

So, a lot of my recent recipes have come from a little cookbook made by Cooking Light that I got from the library. It's their Healthy Heart Eat Smart Guide. It's all about being calorie conscious, knowing your fats, decreasing sodium, and going for whole grains. What I love though, is that these recipes are doing all those things without compromising flavor. Furthermore, Zack and I have felt so good about what we've been eating!

As promised, I found a creative way to use up the ground beef that was leftover from our Beef and Beer Chili. I used it to replace the ground turkey that was called for in this recipe. I think ground turkey would have been just as great, but hey, I'm all about using leftover ingredients. Just combine panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), crumbled feta cheese, minced red onion, pesto, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, ground beef, and minced garlic.

I don't really have much experience making burger patties, and I don't really know what went wrong, but the ingredients sort of started falling apart once they hit the pan. Maybe they would have been saved if Zack was home, but I was on my own, so it turned into a crumbled mixture. After freaking out for a second, I took a taste and realized it was all good. Whatever. I had improvised (sort of). And it tasted amazing.

I was excited to make these "mediterranean burgers" because Zack and I are totally into a good gyro. There is this place down the street from us that is to die for. They are legit, man. Their meat is so perfectly combined and delicious. Spicy and rich. And their tzatziki is so tangy and fresh. I think I'm a long way from making a gyro as amazing as theirs (okay, I'll probably never make one as good as theirs), but I'm excited for a version that we can perfect at home.

I think we could have gone for a little more spice (as was also recommended by Zack), but these were pretty good. The occasion bite of feta just pops, and the pesto/breadcrumb combination is really tasty. It provides for great texture (even if you just have meat crumbles versus actual patties). We used Trader Joe's tzatziki, which was really creamy and good too. Yum.