Quick Quinoa Meatballs

By Jac_M

Jessica Goldman Foung, Reprinted from Sodium Girl's Limitless Low-Sodium Cookbook by Jessica Goldman Foung. Used with permission of the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Cooking Light

OCTOBER 2013

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup washed quinoa
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup diced shallot
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Details

Servings 24
Adapted from myrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Put the quinoa and 1 cup water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once you have strong bubble action, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. Check occasionally and stir to make sure no quinoa is burning at the bottom of the pan. Take the saucepan off the heat, transfer the quinoa to a medium mixing bowl, and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

3. While the quinoa is cooling, add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Using your hands or a spoon, mix until all the ingredients are evenly distributed and well combined.

4. Shape the meat mixture into balls that are a little smaller than a golf ball. Place them in even rows on the lined baking sheet. Place the sheet in the oven and cook the meatballs until they're slightly browned and crispy on top, 12 to 15 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, the safe internal temperature for pork is 165°.