Sweet & Sour Meatballs

I love taking 'older' recipes (the kind in the 70s and 80s Betty Crocker cookbooks that I nabbed from my mom when I got married), and 'health-ing' them up a bit. This recipe is the result of one of those experiments. It's one dish we all really like: Mike likes the meatballs, the kids like the sugar content, and I'm happy that everyone's eating veggies (even if they are coated in sugar). I also love that it's surprisingly 'light' tasting, not heavy like you normally think of meatball dishes.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Serves 6

Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/4 cup skim milk

2 TB finely minced green onions
1 clove garlic, minced (I normally just grate mine with a fine grater)

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash salt

1 egg

Sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar1 TB cornstarch

1 (13 oz) can pineapple chunks, in juice

1/3 cup vinegar

1 TB soy sauce

1/2 onion, roughly chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

Cooked brown rice (or white, if you dare :) )

For Meatballs:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a 9 x 13 pan with foil, and spray lightly with cooking spray. Mix all meatball ingredients together, taking care not to over-mix. Shape into meatballs and place into pan. Because turkey has less fat and has a harder time holding shape, I just use my little ice cream scoop to do this. My kids love meatballs so much, and I'm so paranoid about germs, that I have one just for meatballs. Weird, eh? Anyway, it makes about 24 meatballs. Bake these guys for about 25 minutes. Of course, you could always fry 'em in oil, but really, this is just easier for me.

Once done, let cool for several minutes in pan. They should easily peel off of the foil.

For Sauce:

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in pan. Stir in pineapple (with juice), vinegar, and soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer.

Add meatballs, onion, and carrot. Cover, and let cook 10 minutes, occasionally giving the pan a shake (you don't want to stir and break up the meatballs).

Stir in bell pepper. Cover, simmer until peppers are crisp-tender (about 5 minutes). Serve over rice.