It’s what’s for dinner tonight!  Well, sort of. These wonderful little meat patties can be ready in just 15 minutes!  Plus I have a bunch of pre-roasted vegetables I baked earlier this week to serve them with.  When I do patties, I prefer them grilled over charcoal. But for this meatball dish, I’m just doing them in the oven with the Shawarma Roasted Vegetables I’m reheating with the meatballs on top. The flavor profile of this meat ( if there are any leftover) only  improves on reheating!  This Middle Eastern meat patty/meatball recipe can be made with beef or lamb, even pork if you eat pork (most Middle Easterners do NOT eat pork). This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Primal-Paleo folks can eat this meat on a Greek salad, in a plan-suitable “wrap” or as I am doing tonight, with lots of roasted vegetables (minus the Feta cheese).

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INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground beef or lamb (pork also works, if you eat pork, which is eschewed in the Mid East)

about 1/3 c. kale (2 leaves, stemmed and chopped small)

¼ c. parsley

1 oz. onion

1 small clove garlic

½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine

¼ c. feta cheese, crumbled, rinsed well in strainer

Dash each salt, pepper & allspice

1/8 tsp. my salt-free Homemade Cavender’s Greek Seasoning

1 T. za’atar sauce (optional)

1 medium egg

DIRECTIONS:  Place all but the meat in a food processor or blender. Pulse until fine, but don’t reduce it to paste in texture.  You want it about like a coarse pesto sauce.  Place the meat in a bowl and with a rubber spatula, scrape the spice/herb mixture on the meat.  With a fork or your hands, blend it all together like you would a meatloaf mixture.  Form into either 6 meat patties or 12 meatballs, depending on your application.  Brown patties on both sides in a lightly oiled non-stick skillet until done; or place meatballs atop your pan of pre-roasted vegetables and bake at 350º for about 35 minutes or until meat is done.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 patties, each contains:  (numbers for the meat only). 240 cals, 19g fat, 1.65g carbs, 0.33g fiber, 1.32g NET CARBS, 15 g protein, 155 mg sodium

Makes 12 meatballs, each contains: 120 cals, 9.5g fat, 0.82g carbs, ).165g fiber, 0.66g NET CARBS, 7.5g protein, 77 mg sodium