Meatballs with dates and almonds (Meat)

Member Name: clara29

Product:	Meat
Date:	05/07/09 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick, easy and cheap to make, not to mention absolutely delicious

Disadvantages: none

This is a great recipe for either cooking in the oven or chucking on a barbeque. It is cheap and easy to make and can be ready in no time at all - I find it a great way to feed a few people on a budget. Delicious fast food!

450g minced beef (as lean as possible)
one small red onion
2 large handfuls of flaked almonds
2 large handfuls of chopped dates
sprinkle of cinnamon


Preheat the oven to 190 and line a large baking tray with foil.

Chop the onion as finely as you can manage and mix in a large bowl with the minced beef.
Add the flaked almonds (crush them a little with your hands first) and the chopped dates. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon - thoroughly mix.

Form into balls - don't make them too tiny as they wont be as juicy!
Place on baking tray and pop in the oven for 20 mins turning once - check them to see if they are done, they should be nice and brown on the outside and cooked but still juicy on the inside. Its not a difficult recipe by any stretch of the imagination, but you do need to keep a bit of an eye on them whilst cooking as you dont want them to dry out due to overcooking.

** Serving suggestion (and my personal favourite way to eat these)**

You will need:

Tortilla wraps
Hummous
Green salad
Grated carrot and beetroot salad (all you do is mix grated carrot, an unpickled grated beetroot and a tiny bit of lemon juice)

Take a tortilla wrap, spread with a little hummous. Take two or three meatballs and halve them. Place them down the centre of the wrap.
Add a little green salad and some grated carrot and beetroot salad (this goes amazingly well with this dish - its fat free and so tasty!)

Roll the wrap and eat! watch out though, if you do use the beetroot stuff the juice tends to spill out of the wrap a bit - its a messy meal but by 'eck its tasty!

Thats just my fave ingredients but you could add whatever you wanted - guacamole, sour cream, spicy salsa etc - whatever floats your boat.

I love eating this style of eating as its really sociable, a bit like when you eat fajitas - I love having loads of little dishes in the middle of the table and everyone just digging in!

If the weather is nice these go amazingly well on a barbeque because the dates caramelize a little giving it a gorgeous sweet / savoury taste! Alternatively you could cook them under the grill when the weather doesn't go your way :)

Summary: Great on a a bbq or just in the oven, these are versatile and extra tasty!