Meatballs!

Hi everyone!

Luckily our weather in Finland got a little better for the May Day celebration!
In Finland the last day April is a celebration day since the offices and shops are mostly closed on the first of May and most of the people of Finland celebrate the May Day (we call it Vappu) as the fete of the labor forces...And it's also sort of the celebration of the spring finally arriving to this damn cold northern country. :D
During the May Day celebration we spend time with the family, friends and the loved ones, unwind! Even perhaps take a little bit of sparkling wine or champagne as well. :)

Unfortunately the weather is still damn cold compared to what it should be at this time of the year usually. Maybe at some point of May we will finally have those beautiful light green new leaves on the trees everywhere, the green grass and the blossoming of everything!

To me that moment of the year is absolutely my favorite for it's just something magical when suddenly there is so much sunshine, it's light almost around the clock it's warm out there and everything awakens after the long cold dark and grey wintertime.

On Sunday I made us (me and my love) some meatballs, sweet potato wedges, a spicy salsa and a fresh and crunchy salad. All grain free, also dairy free actually and this portion is containing a good amount of nutrition!

Meatballs, sweet potato wedges, spicy salsa & crunchy salad

You'll need for 2-3 portions:

• low fat minced meat 400 g
• one onion
• two large eggs

• two sweet potatoes
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• white wine winegar

• one mild fresh chili/some conserved jalapeños
• a big clove of garlic
• fresh basil
• tomatoes/cherry tomatoes about 500 g
• about 100 g tomato puree 
• 1,5dl (0,75 cups) sweet chili sauce

• a few leaves of some crunchy salad
• about 100 g corn
• about 70 g kidney beans
• some scallion
• one stem of celery
• about 100 g cucumber

as spices for meatballs for example: mustard U like, honey, salt, black pepper, white pepper, paprika powder, chive and little chili powder.

Preparation (takes about 45-minutes)

1. Begin with the meatballs. Put the minced meat into a spacious bowl, break two eggs into it, dice the onion into small dices and toss it into the bowl. Put there about 3-tablespoons of mustard and 1,5 tablespoons of honey. Add the amounts you like the rest of the spices to bowl (it doesn't have to be exactly those spices, use what U like! That's just what I put there this time :)) Mix well and leave the meatball "dough" for a while 

2. Heat the oven to about 180 C's. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop 'em into wedges. Put the wedges into a bowl. Drop some olive oil into the bowl, a little white wine vinegar, some salt and pepper. Mix well and check the taste!

3. Now make the meatballs ready into the baking trey with high sides and put the sweet potato wedges sparsely into another baking tray. Put both into the oven!

4. The meatballs and the sweet potato wedges cook about 25-minutes n now U have time to make the salsa & the salad! Chop tomatoes or cherry tomatoes into small dices, until U have about 4 dl's (2 cups) of diced tomatoes. Place the dices into a bowl. Put into the same bowl the tomato puree, sweet chili sauce and chop the garlic clove n some fresh basil into the bowl. If you don't want this to be very hot, use the mild chili n mostly remove the seeds of it. If you like spicy and hot, chop a few conserved jalapeño pieces into the salsa, or leave the seeds mostly on to the chili, when U chop it into the salsa. Add a pinch of salt, mix well and check the taste! Add spices or alter the amount of components, if needed.

The salsa goes great with any meat or barbecued treats!
You can also replace the basil with fresh cilantro, or add some fresh paprika into the salsa

-Check if the meatballs are already cooked, when they have been in the oven for about 20-minutes! The meatballs will get dry, if they are overcooked. If the meatballs are already done take 'em out, but leave the sweet potatoes to the oven still for a while, when you prepare the salad. (If the meatballs are not yet done, or if the sweet potatoes and the meatballs seem ready, just turn off the oven n leave both there during making the salad!)

5. Chop about 4-leaves of some crunchy salad into a colander, chop the cucumber into dices, celery & scallion into thin slices and toss all into the colander. Rinse and trickle the salad. Put into a salad bowl. Defrost some corn in the colander under warm water (that won't take long and the corn stays juicy!). Add the corn and the beans into the salad.

~Everything is ready!~

ps. As always all the amounts are approximately, since my cooking works quite a lot based on experience and instinct so I rarely measure anything.  

Cooking rarely is an exact science! ;) 

I'm always doing my best to give as comprehensible and easy to follow instructions as possible, but if there is something U don't understand, can't figure out or want to know more, just ask me! (:

Now it's the bedtime for me!

~Good night to U, or what ever time it's for U~

♡-Tiina-♡