Thai Meatballs with Green Salad and Corn

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Serves 4 – Makes 16 mini meatballs

 

Ingredients:

  • ½ small onion, very finely chopped or grated
  • 5 ml fresh crushed garlic and ginger mix (1 t)
  • freshly ground mixed peppercorns to taste
  • 10 ml fish sauce or soya sauce (2 t)
  • 10 ml soft brown sugar (2 t)
  • 90 ml fresh coriander leaves, chopped (6 T)
  • 400 g extra lean beef mince or ostrich mince, or a mix of both
  • 60 ml oats (4 T)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 100 g washed mixed lettuce leaves
  • 30 g fresh rocket leaves (3 handfuls)
  • ¼ English cucumber
  • 150 g  baby tomatoes
  • 250 g tinned sweetcorn, drained (1 x 410g tin, drained)
  • 15 ml  sweet chilli sauce (1T) (optional)

 

Instructions:

  1. Place the grated onion, garlic and ginger, ground peppercorns, fish / soya sauce, sugar and chopped coriander leaves in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients.
  2. Add the mince, oats and beaten egg, and mix well, ensuring that all the ingredients are well mixed into the meat. If the mix does not stick together add another tablespoon of oats.
  3. Using 1 tablespoon of mixture at a time, roll the mix into 16 small balls.
  4. Gently heat a frying pan that has been sprayed with aerosol non-stick cooking oil.
  5. Place the mini meatballs side by side into the lightly greased pan.
  6. Cover with a lid or aluminium foil.
  7. Cook on low heat for 7 minutes until the underside of the meatballs are brown.
  8. Turn all meatballs and cover again. Cook for 5 minutes until the other side of the meatballs is browned.
  9. Remove the meatballs from the pan and leave to cool while assembling the salad.
  10. To make the salad, divide the salad leaves, sliced cucumber, tomatoes and rocket onto 4 dinner plates, add the drained sweetcorn and the cooked meatballs and serve with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.

 

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING

Energy                                     1372 kJ

Protein                                     25.1 g

Carbohydrates                       18.5 g

Total sugars                            6.3 g

added sugar                           3.7 g (chili sauce (optional) & sugar)

Total fat                                   17.5 g

Saturated fat                          6.7 g

Fibre                                         4.8 g

Sodium                                     429 mg

One serving is equivalent to 1 carbohydrate, 3 protein and ½ vegetable.

 

Dietitian notes:

Remember that red meat immediately increases the fat content of any dish, even if you use the extra lean beef mince as we recommend in this recipe. Only four mini meatballs made with lean beef mince contain 17.5 g fat per serving. Using ostrich mince, however, reduces the fat content to 6 g per serving for 4 mini meatballs. So it is important to “dilute” red meat with lots of vegetables (salad) and a little starch (sweetcorn).

 

We would not suggest that you especially buy sweet chilli sauce for this recipe as this may tempt you to use it in other recipes or on food which will only add to the added sugar content. If you don’t have sweet chilli sauce then feel welcome to omit this ingredient or use ½ diced kiwi fruit or ½ grated apple for a little sweetness instead. Alternatively, you could also use light chutney.

 

A wonderful tasty recipe from Cath Day from her recipe book alongside Gabi Steenkamp – Food for Sensitive Tummies.

#foodforsensitivetummies

@cathsday

@dietitian_cathD

 

Sesame chicken

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This mouth watering sesame chicken recipe was created by the lovely Cheryl Meyer, registered dietitian and food blogger from Dish and Delight.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 skinless, deboned chicken breasts, cubed (approx. 125 g each – 500 g)

3 tablespoons low-sodium soya sauce

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 teaspoon crushed ginger

1 teaspoon corn flour

⅓ cup finely chopped spring onion (optional – extra to garnish)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

salt and pepper, to season

 

METHOD

  1. Season chicken cubes with salt and pepper.
  2. Sauté chicken in olive oil, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
  3. While chicken is cooking, whisk together the soya sauce, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger, and corn flour until combined.
  4. When the chicken is cooked through, add the spring onions and soy sauce mixture to the pan and stir to coat the chicken – the sauce will thicken quickly.
  5. Stir in sesame oil, then remove from heat and enjoy.

 

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Serve over cooked rice, cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles or quinoa with steamed broccoli, stir-fried mixed veggies or cooked green beans topped a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and spring onion slices.

 

We Love:

This is simple Asian cooking at its best, a quick dinner that tastes like takeout but you control the ingredients, you control the flavor.

 

What the dietitians says:

Tip: measure the olive oil in your tablespoon before the honey, so it slides out easily.

 

Nutrition Information: Per serving

Energy: 1017 kJ Protein: 29.8 g Carbohydrate: 10.8 g Of which, total sugars: 8.7 g Fat: 11.4 g Fibre: 0.5 g Sodium: 556 mg

Ostrich Stew with Gremolata

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A great choice for health-conscious red meat lovers and a wonderful in-between seasons recipe – Ostrich Stew with Gremolata, created by chef Vanessa Marx.

Our dietitians say: Ostrich is a great tasting lean read meat. It is low in fat (only 1.4 g fat per 100 g meat), rich in protein (22 protein per 100 g meat), lower in cholesterol than other red meats (only 60 mg per 100 g meat), and a good source of biologically available iron  (3.2 mg iron per 100 g serving of meat)

INGREDIENTS

500 g ostrich fillet cubes

1 tablespoon (15 ml) canola oil

2 cans (400 g each) chopped tomato

1 cup (250 ml) red wine

1 carrot

1 onion

100 g mushrooms

100 g green beans

10 g thyme, fresh

10 g rosemary, fresh

1 can (400 g net, 244 g drained) beans e.g. kidney, butter beans or cooked sugar beans, drained and rinsed

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon (15 ml) xylitol

2 cloves garlic

10 g Italian parsley

1 lemon

METHOD

  1. Peel and chop the onion and carrot, and slice the mushrooms and green beans.
  2. Place a large pot on a high heat and add the oil. Once hot, add the onion, mushroom and carrot and sauté for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the ostrich cubes, chopped tomato, wine and chopped herbs and reduce the heat to low.
  4. Allow the pot to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, the sauce will reduce and thicken and the ostrich will soften. Once this happens, add the green beans and season with salt and pepper, add the xylitol and the can of beans & stir.
  5. Simmer the stew for another 5 minutes to cook the green beans.
  6. To make the gremolata, chop the fresh garlic finely, chop the parsley and zest the lemon. Mix the parsley garlic & lemon zest together.
  7. Serve the stew hot and sprinkle with the fresh gremolata.

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING

(recipe serves 4)

Energy: 1400 kJ Protein: 35.6 g Carbohydrate: 23.8 g Of which, total sugars: 9.1 g Fat: 6.7 g Fibre: 17.2 g Sodium: 180 mg