Asian Meatballs from Nom Nom Paleo

A few weeks ago, this recipe for Asian Meatballs from Nom Nom Paleo showed up in one of my social media feeds and I decided I needed to give it a try.  They seemed like they could be a great portable post workout option for me as they included sweet potato.

I gathered my ingredients, and got to work.  There's a lot of chopping to be done to make these meatballs happen.

I started with chopping the mushrooms.

And then the shallots.  The ingredient list calls for 1 medium shallot.  Again, the shallot question.  I commented on the recipe post and Michelle responded accordingly, "A medium shallot to me is about the size of 2 Barbie heads. Does that help?"  No, actually, that didn't really help.  I wasn't really a Barbie girl growing up.  The next time I was at the store, I took a look at the barbies.  

 In my mind, Barbie is a smart misunderstood girl, so I decided upon 2.5 tablespoons.

I kept chopping and dumping the ingredients into a big mixing bowl.  After giving the ingredients good stir, I added the remaining ingredients to the bowl- the fish sauce, tomato paste and finally the beef.    

I mixed the beef in with latex gloved hands.  

I greased a foil lined baking sheet with coconut oil.

And then proceeded to fill the sheet with meatballs.  

The recipe says to cook the meatballs for 15-20 minutes rotating the tray at the midpoint.  I rotated the tray at the 10 minute mark.  I let them continue to cook a few minutes longer to get a nice brown.  

Accessibility & Cost of Ingredients:  You should be able to find everything you need at your "big box" grocery store with the exception of a quality fish sauce.   I like Red Boat as it's gluten free.  Whole Foods carries that brand and so does my local Asian market.  

Preparation & Cooking Time:  It took me about 28 minutes to prepare these meatballs to cook (including a hand washing).  It took me about 24 minutes to cook them. 

Clean Up:  Everything I used went into the dishwasher.  If you don't want to have to wash your sheet pan, make sure it is well covered by the foil.  A few of my meatballs stuck, so the foil ripped and I had to wash my sheet pan.  By wash, I mean put it in the dishwasher.  No big deal.  

The Paleo Review:  Thumbs Up!  I can't say there is really any distinctive Asian flavor to these meatballs, but they were a nice slightly sweet beef flavor and they were filling.  The next time I make these, I'll make a few batches to freeze as they are the portable filling post workout meal I thought they'd be.