Minted Meatballs with a Spicy Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Mmmm, meatballs.  I love them.  I think every country/region has it's own variation.
In fact, if I was to host an international food festival I would have all the participants only make meatballs.  Meatballs representing their country's herbs, spices, and meat (or lack of).
You can really learn a lot from someone by tasting their meatball.  Oh yeah, I have to keep this PG ;) hehe

So the meatballs I made today would definitely represent the spices and herbs my mom would use in all of her recipes.  We eat yogurt with everything, and it's only natural for me to use yogurt as the dipping sauce for these meatballs.


For the meatballs:
1 pound of organic ground beef (85/15 or leaner)
1/2 an onion, grated
1 egg
1 Tbsp fresh, minced parsley
1 Tbsp dried mint
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
S/P to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together and form into meatballs by rolling the meat in your hand.
-oh boy, it's hard to describe making meatballs without making you blush-
After you've formed your meatballs and placed them on a tray, refrigerate for about half an hour.

I yielded about 30 meatballs for a pound of beef, but you can get up to 60 or 70 if you make them smaller.

While your meat is chillin...
Make the yogurt sauce:

About 2 cups of yogurt
1/2 English cucumber, diced small
1/4 onion, diced small
2 tbsp. dried mint
1 tbsp. dried dill
couple pinches of cayenne for heat
couple drops of extra virgin olive oil
squeeze of a lime
salt to taste

Mix it all together and refrigerate until ready to use.

To cook off the meatballs, heat a non-stick skillet with just a teaspoon of oil (literally, b/c you don't need all the oil as the meat has it's own fat it releases during the cooking process).  

Once the skillet is hot enough place as much of the meatballs you can in the pan without over crowding. You may have to cook off in batches.  Give all sides a good sear and cook until done.

Place it on a plate and serve with the yogurt sauce.  

Enjoy it in a wrap with mixed greens, on a bed of basmati rice, or simply on its own.

Meatballs are a great way to kick off the summer with healthy eating.  Their healthy if you cook them without frying.  Using yogurt as a dipping sauce instead of ranch or sour cream really cuts out the extra calories.  And, visually you feel like you're eating more when in fact 3-5 meatballs (as pictured) is less meat than a hamburger. Just think, most of us can eat an 8 oz burger in one sitting...that's a lot of meat.