While the holidays bring out our favorite family recipes, they also bring that I-could-use-looser-pants feeling. We fill our tiny plates with crab puffs, artichoke dip, bacon-wrapped-somethings, shrimp cocktail, and this is all before the main meal! Check out the tips below to help manage appetizer mania without ruining your appetite or health goals. Then, impress your family and friends with Chef Jen’s easy Swedish meatballs.
- Don’t show up starving. If you’ve ever gone grocery shopping on an empty stomach, you get it.
- Build a colorful plate. By including fruits and veggies on your plate, you’re both increasing nutrients and decreasing total calories.
- Consider your location. Make your plate and make way for another part of the room. The closer you are to the food, the more likely you are to go back for seconds (and thirds).
- Survey the spread. Check out your options first! Fill your plate with items that appeal to you and may only be around once or twice a year. Are the crackers and cheese worth it?
- Remember what’s next! If a full meal is within the next hour or two, remember to not fill up on apps. Think about what the next courses will look like. Is this the only chance I’ll have to eat fruit? Is dessert coming later?
- Utilize the plate method. Just like the Mayo Clinic Diet healthy dining table, this method helps to build a healthy plate that keeps us full with fewer calories by including protein, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables.
Shopping List: Lean ground beef, Quinoa, Green onions, Panko
Check For: Eggs, Ketchup, Kosher salt, Pepper, Garlic powder, Canola oil
Servings: 6
Author: Jennifer A. Welper, Wellness Executive Chef
Recipe Category: Appetizers
Nutritional Information Per Serving
- 240 calories
- 8 g total fat
- 2 g saturated fat
- 460 mg sodium
- 21 g total carbohydrate
- 1 g fiber
- 20 g protein
Ingredients
- 1 pound 95% lean ground beef
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup green chopped onion (about 6 onions)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the lean ground beef with the cooked and cooled quinoa, green onions, egg, ketchup, kosher salt, panko, pepper and garlic powder. Make sure all ingredients are well combined.
- Form the meatballs using a medium-sized scoop (about ¼ cup). Set them aside on a plate or a rimmed baking sheet.
- Heat a nonstick saute pan to medium-high heat. When hot, add the canola oil. Place meatballs in the pan, moving them around frequently to sear on all sides and develop a golden color.
- Once meatballs are seared, return them to a cleaned baking sheet and bak in the oven until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 160° F.
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Additional References and Notes:
- You can continue to cook the meatballs in the pan instead of finishing them in the oven. You’ll want to turn down the heat to allow for more even cooking and to prevent burning, due to the lim8ited amount of oil used.
- Quinoa is used to reduce the amount of ground beef in the meatballs, if you’re trying to reduce red meat in your diet. It adds bulk and provides protein.
- Quinoa also works as a gluten-free breadcrumb.
- Serve with marsala sauce (page 210).
Relevant reading
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