A 30 minute and done meal with everything you need. Starchy veggies, greens, meatballs and flavor. Before I get into it though I need to tell SOMEONE (that means you) that I just signed up for my first trail race, in August, and it’s 10 miles. You might remember I was race window shopping and I realized I wasn’t finding anything exciting and so, decided to take the road less traveled by (or no road at all) and sign up for this which is by all means a stretch for me and a far cry from my comfort zone. Which of course is why I signed up.
As I was putting my credit card number in I couldn’t help but envision myself in a muddy ditch, alone, or even better, with lots of experienced trail runners pointing and laughing at me. Most of my greatest life experiences begin with similar visions so I guess I’ll take that as a sign that this is a good idea. And that maybe I should find some trails around here and start visiting them once a week. Okay I’m actually just as excited as I am humbled and freaked out. Yay!
Moving on to the recipe!
This dish was an experiment (okay they all are surprise surprise) and I basically wanted some sort of meatball casserole type thing with sweet potatoes, since I love meatballs and sweet potatoes together. I found that with the spices I used it has sort of a pizza like flavor but wasn’t spicy or overpowering to the sweet potatoes. Use whatever spices and amounts appeal to you!
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1.5 lbs meatloaf mix (ground veal, pork, and beef) or ground meat of choice
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp garlic powder
-
1 tsp salt
-
1 tbsp dried oregano
-
2 tsp dried basil
-
dash cayenne pepper
For the onion/sweet potato mixture
- 1 med onion, cut in quarters and thin sliced
1 14oz can no salt added diced tomatoes, drained
Large handful fresh spinach, chopped
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a large sautee pan, heat your ghee over med-low heat. Add sliced onions and toss to coat.
Once the onions have softened and are fragrent, turn the heat to medium, add the sweet potato chunks to the pan and stir to coat. Cover the pan to allow them to soften, stirring occasionally. Adjust the heat if necessary.
When the onions and sweet potatoes are toasty and browned after about 15 minutes, add the drained diced tomatoes, chopped spinach, spices, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Let the mixture heat through and then turn the heat down to let it simmer.
When the meatballs are done (no pink inside), add them one by one to the pan on top of the veggie mixture. You are done!
Now wasn’t that easy? What do YOU like to eat with your meatballs? (Please don’t say spaghetti. I know you wanna say spaghetti!)
That looks too good!!!
I’ll try it this weekend. Good luck on your trail race.
Cool hope it comes out good!
Awesome signing up for the trail race! It is always good stepping outside of your comfort zone – and funny how we think that people will laugh at us … when in reality we know that runners are always amazing and supportive and if you DO fall someone will be there to help, not laugh!
Great recipe – and yeah, I DO love my occasional spaghetti! Also love making ground beef stuffed eggplant … mmmmm
I am going to do something with ground beef, sausage and eggplant tonight. Plus some tomatoes. We’ll see. Trail race is a definite leap for me but I’ve been thinking about it for a while so might as well!
I am all about the sweet potatos lately, I just can’t get enought!
So cool about your trail race! I have yet to run one, just because Dallas area does have a ton of real “trails” but they look like a blast. Ten miles is a great distance too!
Sweet potatoes are easy and go with everything so I never tire of them 🙂 I’m excited for the trail race but need at least a few runs on trails to feel like I can do it!
yay for trails! picture me jealously wishing i didn’t live in florida…
Funny because I don’t even know where the trails are around here although I know they exist! Does Florida really not have trails?
Congrats about signing up for that race! That sounds like it will be a fun experience.
Your recipe looks awesome! I usually eat my meatballs with penne:) But i am open to trying this, because it sounds amazing!
The trail race will be something totally different which works for summer I think. You could always put some penne on the side just in case 🙂
i love meatballs! like a lot! i mean, who doesn’t right!? come feed me
Right? Meatballs ARE the best and I need to work on some new flavors!
Good luck with your trail race!
I love meatballs! They are so fun and easy to make. These look delicious!
Hope you try 🙂
Yummy, this looks good and a great quick dinner to whip up for the fam! I look forward to trying it out. Thanks!
Great! Hope you like it!