One Pot Chicken Meatballs With Greens

 I was trolling around NY Times Cooking's recipe app this week, looking for a new healthy recipe and boy, did this one deliver!  I zazzed it up from the base recipe, using some of the suggestions in the comments and I'm glad that I did.  Some of the extra stuff I added really gave it extra flavor.  My recommendations are included here in italics as well as the original recipe.  This was not that hard to make, is extremely healthy and, in this day and age of high price groceries, doesn't cost very much.  A pound of ground chicken is $5-6 at my local grocery store, one of the least expensive proteins you can buy right now.  Also, it reheats pretty darned well, too.  All around, a winner, winner chicken dinner.  (you see what I did there?)

Ingredients

• 1cup panko bread crumbs
• 2/3 cup full-fat thick yogurt (preferably Greek or Icelandic)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced or grated
• 4 scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced
• 4 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper - I added more
• Salt
• 2 pound ground chicken
• ¼cup olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1pound rainbow or Swiss chard (1 large or 2 small bunches), tender stalks sliced and leaves cut into 1-inch ribbons
• 1lemon, thinly sliced
• 1teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 egg - I added to meatballs for stickiness and moisture
• 1/4 cup white wine - I used this to deglaze the pan and give the sauce some bite
• 1/8 cup Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce - I added this to the meatballs to give them some additional flavor
• 1 can cannelini or butter beans - I added this to the pot for additional protein and heartiness

Directions:

1. Step 1

   In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, yogurt, garlic, scallions, oregano, crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon salt and eggs and wing sauce. Add the chicken and gently mix until fully combined.

2. Step 2

   Coat your palms in olive oil, then shape the meat into medium meatballs (about 2 inches each), making sure each is lightly coated with oil by refreshing the coating on your hands. Set the meatballs directly on a sheet pan or on parchment paper.

3. Step 3

   Heat a 12-inch Dutch oven (or other heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid) over medium heat for 2 minutes until hot. Pour in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, tilting the pot to coat the surface, then add the meatballs. Let cook until they are golden halfway up the sides, occasionally turning them when they easily release, adding extra oil if needed, about 7 minutes.

4. Step 4

   Meanwhile, to another large bowl, add the greens, lemon slices, cumin and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt; toss to coat the leaves, scrunching them up as needed.

5. Step 5

   Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the browned bits. Smother the meatballs with the beans first then the greens and lemon slices. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the meatballs are cooked through and the greens tender, 12 to 13 minutes.

6. Step 6

   Use a soup ladle to scoop up the meatballs, resting them on the greens, browned-side up and ladling any juices on top of the meatballs and greens. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges for serving, if desired.

7. Makes 4 servings

8. Calories: 527, Fat: 28.4g, Carbs 28.7 g, Protein 56.2g

Instant Pot Saag Chicken

I go through a process when I contemplate buying a new appliance for the kitchen - I ask myself whether I will use it at least once a month.  If not, I won't make the purchase.  With my Instant Pot, I've had to make a bit of an effort to make that stick, but I do find myself using it pretty regularly, especially for Indian curries.  There's something about the way it cooks the food that really does well with Indian flavors, and I've struggled to make great curries without the Instant Pot.

I've seen a lot of incredibly complex recipes for my favorite curry, Saag Chicken, which involve making some kind of extra second mixture ahead of time, or pre-boiling the spinach, etc.  This recipe is healthy, delicious, and relatively simple - it only involves one pot.  I do tend to go on the lighter side with the chiles (wimp!) and I like to sear the chicken on the Instant Pot's Saute setting briefly before cooking, but otherwise, I follow this recipe pretty much to the letter.  A note on Garam Masala - it sounds mysterious and you can't buy a bottle of it in the grocery store usually.  But, you can buy it on Amazon or from an Indian grocery store or - in a pinch - you can make your own.  There are loads of recipes out on the internet and it doesn't contain anything unusual - it's just a particular mix of common spices that is often used in Indian food.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken thighs or breasts, cut into cubes.  You may also add paneer.
• 1 pound spinach
• 2 tablespoon ghee
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger piece or pre-minced ginger
• 1 white onion chopped
• 1-3 green chilies - you can use thai chiles (spicier!), but I usually use jalapenos and only use one or two
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons garam masala powder
• Water
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Instructions:

• Heat up Instant Pot in saute mode and add ghee.
• Saute cumin seeds, ginger & garlic pieces, onions and green chilies.  (I also saute the chicken / paneer briefly at this point to brown the outside a bit.)
• Sprinkle in coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt.
• Pour about ½ cup water.
• Add alternating loads of spinach and chicken pieces into the pot. Make sure to separate the chicken pieces, they will stick to each other when you pressure cook.
• Close lid and cook for 8 minutes in “pressure cook” setting.
• Once cooking time is over, manually release the pressure in the pot with a kitchen towel in your hand. Be careful, the liquids may splutter out while releasing pressure.
• Remove chicken pieces out in a bowl. Blend rest of the ingredients using stick blender into a smooth sauce.
• Add chicken pieces back.
• Sprinkle garam masala and yogurt.
• Simmer for 2-3 minutes with a glass lid to cover (curry sauce will splutter).
• Serve hot with basmati rice or naan.

Nutritional Information (for chicken only, additional calories if you add paneer): 4 servings

Calories: 328, Fat: 19g, Carbs 13g, Fiber 6g, Sugars 3g, Protein 29g