Today is my birthday and I am posting about meatballs! The two actually have nothing in common. Meatballs aren’t my favourite meal – pasta is, if you must know. But it just so happens that today is a posting day and I have these meatballs ready to share. 

I really like my birthday! It’s not that I enjoy getting older; I more enjoy the thought that I am living the good life and age isn’t affecting me! Okay, so I maybe have back aches and knee aches … and maybe I can have thirty-minute in-depth conversations with my best friend over the weather… and maybe I strictly go to bed at 9:00 pm every weeknight… and okay, so what if it is the 25th anniversary of Pretty Woman this week (wow!)…. but honestly, I don’t feel like I am now 35 years old… I feel much younger! I don’t act my age, and I don’t plan on it anytime soon! I am constantly ID’d at the bar or the liquor store. But the trick, I think, to staying young, is that I am constantly laughing. As George Bernard Shaw says,“You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” So true – never stop laughing!

Okay, so back to meatballs. As an early birthday present to myself I bought myself a few cookbooks; one of them being Jerusalem by Ottolenghi. I have tested out a few recipes and this meatball recipe comes from his cookbook, with my own spin.

Herb and Spiced Meatballs with Sautéed Navy Beans

One major thing I changed for the meatball is I used ground turkey instead of a ground beef/lamb mix. I don’t like lamb and I don’t really like ground beef too much either. The recipe also called for fava beans in which I substituted with navy beans. For the spices, I didn’t use cilantro because it is disgusting and tastes like soap (to me, of course… and apparently 4 – 14% of the population).

If you can’t find a spice blend called Baharat Spice Blend, you can use a blend of coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, cumin and allspice.  

I started by putting basmati rice into my rice cooker, so it would be ready when these delicious meatballs are ready. Next I gathered all of my spices and chopped fresh herbs, onions, garlic and capers. 

To make the meatballs, mix all of the meatball ingredients in a bowl, best done using your hands. 

Once mixed well, roll mixture into balls, about 2-3 Tbsp. of meat mixture in each ball. 

Add about 2 tbsp olive oil to a pan and heat on medium heat and add the meatballs to the hot pan and fry until all the sides turn brown, about 7 – 10 minutes. Remove meatballs from pan and set aside and start the navy bean sauté.

Heat another 2 tbsp of olive oil in the same pan and sauté the thyme, garlic and red onion. Sauté for about 4-6 minutes.

Add in the navy beans, the lemon juice and chicken stock. Add fresh ground black pepper.

Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Return meatballs to the pan with beans and simmer for 25 minutes. Watch your liquid – you want the meatballs to start taking on the chicken stock liquid and not dry up. Add more stock by ¼ cup if necessary. If really runny, remove lid and let reduce.

Serve on basmati rice.