I’ve been loving Mediterranean food as of late. Something about the fresh flavors and ingredients have been speaking to my tastebuds.
I was driving down the street the other day and this recipe idea popped into my mind. The thought of fresh cherries mixed together with savory tastes just kept playing on repeat. Lucky for me, this recipe came out perfect on the first try!
I used ground lamb but, really, ground grass-fed beef, pork, or even organic turkey would work depending on your preference. Lamb stays tender and really melds into the flavors you add into it.
One finished, these meatballs can go with a little pasta and olive oil, with spiralized vegetables, or over rice. For my meatballs, I put mine on top of freekeh and charred kale. If you aren’t familiar with freekeh, it’s a supergrain similar to rice but packed with protein and fiber but low in fat. It can be found at the grocery store or health food store, usually next to the quinoa. I stared by heating up ghee in my pan and tossing fresh torn kale for a few minutes with salt and pepper. For the freekeh, I heated mine to a boil on the stove, covered until cooked, and then squeezed in some fresh lemon juice.
However you decide to serve your meatballs is your call. But do yourself a favor and make these meatballs!
Start by adding your meatball ingredients into the bowl. Be sure your onion and carrot are very finely chopped or grated. You’ll want tiny pieces in each meatball, not big chunks.
Squish all of those good ingredients together with your hands and be sure they are well mixed. Take each meatball out to form and make them about an inch in diameter. 
Stick them in the oven for about 30 minutes. When you take them out, be sure to move them around on your sheet a little if you want to avoid the juices forming around the bottom of each ball.
Enjoy!
Lamb Turmeric Cherry Meatballs
These meatballs are delicious over pasta, brown rice, any super grain, or even spiralized vegetables!
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground, organic, grass-fed lamb meat
- 1 large carrot shredded
- 1/2 cup dried cherries chopped
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 cup cilantro torn
- 1 cup almond flour
- heavy pinch of sea salt
Garnish
- 1/4 cup cilantro torn
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Combine lamb, carrot, dried cherries, onion, egg, turmeric, ginger, cilantro, almond flower, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
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Mix well with your hands, ensuring the ingredients are well incorporated into the meat.
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Using a spoon or scooper, scoop out tablespoon sized balls of meat mixture and roll into a ball.
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Leaving about one inch in between meatballs, line parchment paper lined baking sheet with meatballs. Continue making meatballs until the bowl is empty.
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Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.
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Once cooked, either gently place meat balls on a plate or push them around on the baking sheet so that the juice doesn't crust around the meat balls.
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Serve over brown rice, a super grain, or pasta drizzled in olive oil.
