Recipe: Thai Chicken Meatballs
These spicy meatballs are the perfect canape —baked, tasty and nonfattening.
Greetings from Aspen, where strange things happen in the kitchen due to living at a base of 8,000 feet. Rocky Mountain High indeed! Got in to town last week and have had back-to-back events without a break in the action. Even exhaustion feels heavier up here. But I am thrilled to say that none of the cooking has suffered. Dish after dish has been beautiful and so delish! So without further ado because I have to get back to work, here are my favorite go-to Thai chicken meatballs that can be baked. They're easy on the waistline and no big fry mess to clean up afterward. Enjoy these with an easy dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and garlic chili sauce. I mix equal parts of each but that might be too spicy for the average palate so find your ideal combination.
Thai Chicken Meatballs
Yield: 30 meatballs
2 lbs. ground chicken
3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into three or four pieces
4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
2 jalapenos, seeded and cut into a few pieces
2 tsps. salt
4 scallions, white part only
Handful of fresh mint, stemmed
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place ginger, garlic, jalapenos, scallions and mint in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely minced. In a mixing bowl, add chicken and processed ingredients. Use your hands to blend ingredients. Add salt, bread crumbs and egg. Mix well.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Wet your hands with olive oil (chicken mixture will be sticky). Roll meatballs in a 1½ to 2-inch diameter. Bake until golden and firm.
