Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Yum!  Will definitely be making this dish again!  Hubby loved the meatballs so much; he would like me to try as hamburger pattie.  Made 21 meatballs, I had 3; Keith had 7 and the rest I will freeze with leftover sauce for another day.  Sauce was quite nice; tasted like a gourmet ketchup.  And so happy to break open the dried shiitake mushrooms we picked up in Manitoulin Island!  The only change, I used 6 baby bok choys; next time I would use more as there really was only enough for 2 servings and I would have loved to bring this into lunch next day.

Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef

5 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 egg

1/2 whole grain bread crumbs

2 t minced garlic

2 t minced ginger

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

6 heads of baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise (next time I would use more)

1/2 c of dried Manitoulin shiitake mushrooms (soaked in boiling water for 15 mins)

1/2 c soy sauce

2 t sunflower oil

1 t sesame oil

pinch of pepper flakes

1 c passata sauce

1/4 c rice vinegar

3 T pure maple syrup

2 t cornstarch

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Spray large cooking tray with non-stick cooking spray.
Make a 10 in long dish using tin foil (folding up the sides to make a 2 inch border/basket)
Place tin foil on 1/2 of baking tray.

In a large boil mix together beef, spinach, onions, egg, bread crumbs, 1 t garlic, ginger, salt, pepper.
Shape into heaping 1 T balls.
Arrange so that each are in tin foil bowl/basket with each touching the pan vs on top of each other.
Bake in oven for 8 - 10 mins.

Meanwhile; place bok choy and mushrooms in a separate bowl.
in a small bowl; mix 1 T soy sauce, sunflower oil, sesame oil, pepper flakes, 1 t minced garlic.
pour over bok choy and mushrooms tossing to coat.
Remove pan from oven; arrange bok choy mixture in a single layer on remaining half of pan.
Return to oven and bake 10 mins.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together passata sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, cornstarch and 3 T soy sauce until smooth.

Remove pan from oven, pour tomato mixture over meatballs and stir.
Stir/flip bok choy mixture.
Return to oven and bake for 5 to 8 mins
Divide bok choy mixture between 2 plates
add meatballs and drizzle with sauce.

Save remaining meatballs and sauce to freeze for another day.

4 - 6 servings
267 calories per svg

Adapted from Cleaneating May 2017