yummy turkey meatballs

I've been all about trying to add more fiber to my diet....I felt like experimenting tonight so I made turkey meatballs with my own little twist. Instead of the standard breadcrumbs and egg I used mashed cannellini beans and ground flaxseed. The can of cannellini beans added 18 grams of fiber and the flaxseeds added another 6 for a total of 24 grams of fiber (about 1.5 grams per meatball) that wouldn't have made it into the recipe before. For some more fiber you can use whole wheat pasta too...afterall we are supposed to get about 25 grams per day. And fiber is good at keeping you full longer, preventing some cancers, and losing weight.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out but they came out really good as evidenced by Matt's "Oh, I wish I could take this for lunch tomorrow." They came out great except they were a little soft...so if you can eat eggs then you might want to substitute 1 egg for the olive oil to help bind them together a little better.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 can cannellini beans, mashed

3 tbsp ground flax seeds

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup roasted red pepper puree

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves chopped garlic

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse the cannellini beans then mash with a fork. Add all the other ingredients. For the roasted pepper puree I used a jar of roasted red peppers and pureed them in the blender. Mix together and shape into small meatballs ( i made about 15). Spray a frying pan with olive oil and cook the meatballs on medium/high heat until cooked through and browned.

You can use any sauce, but I made that too.

Recipe:

1 can crushed tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 chopped onion

2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

2 cloves chopped garlic

2 tbsp agave nectar (or sugar)

1/2 cup of the roasted red pepper puree from above

salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Combine in sauce pan and simmer for at least a half hour...i let mine go for about an hour and a half. YUM!