Spicy Chipotle Meatballs with Rice

You know, I am just odd.  I mean, everyone’s a little goofy, but I’m a card-carrying member of Team Quirk.

Not that you knew that, right?

Ahem.

Anyways, one of my many oddities is my love of the humble meatball.  Given my strident and lifelong loathing of the meatball’s huge and homely cousin, meatloaf, this makes no damn sense at all.

I mean think about it: what is a meatball but a wee meatloaf nugget?

But for some reason, I love meatballs. Not the big suckers, though–those are a little too meatloaf-y for my comfort and I get all sweaty and shifty-eyed just thinking about them. No. I’m talking about cute little mini-meatballs.

Mini-meatballs are totally unthreatening.  Honest.

Even if you fear The Loaf, you will love these.  If you’re anti-spice, go a little light on the chipotle puree, but we here at Chez T. thought these were hot-damn good!  Well, okay, not the Minxes, but that goes without saying. I even tried to sell it with the term “meatloaf nugget,” on the mistaken assumption that anything nugget would appease the Revolutionaries.

Eh, it’s all okay.  Someday, they’ll eat broccoli and give me a heart attack. I can’t wait.

Spicy Chipotle Meatballs with Rice

serves 4

slightly adapted from Real Simple magazine

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, grated or finely diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can whole tomatoes

2-4 teaspoons chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, depending on your heat tolerance

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or bison

1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro, plus more for serving

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned or plain)

1 large egg, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

salt and pepper

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil. When oil shimmers, add the onion and half of the garlic and cook, stirring, until onion just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes (with the juices) and chipotles. With a large spoon or a potato masher, break up the tomatoes. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until the sauce has thickened a bit, about 20 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick, add a little water.

Cook rice according to package directions

As rice is cooking, combine beef/bison, parsley/cilantro/, bread crumbs, beaten egg, cumin, remaining garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl; mix gently to combine. Form mixture into 16 small, unthreatening meatballs–(about 2 heaping teaspoons each).

Bring the sauce back up to a boil. Gently plop the meatballs into the sauce, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until meatballs are just cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve over rice and sprinkled with parsley/cilantro, if desired.

*We’ve got some ugly stuff on the docket this week, so if I don’t visit you, I hope you’ll give me a Get Out of Jail Free Pass.

**If you have a Food Nemesis from childhood, I’d love to hear about it. I had a roomie in college named Stacy who used to come home from school, open the door, and if she smelled Swiss Steak cooking, promptly flung herself onto the ground, screaming in terror.  I was pissed off when I heard that story because she totally trumped me in the drama department, because cauliflower night just made me freeze, not flail. Hmph. Stacy. That show-off.

Tagged as: food phobias, meat loaf is evil, picky eaters, yummy meatballs