Feta and Eggplant Meatballs with Tzatziki

I loved, loved, loved this dish!

I love meatballs because they're a quick and easy dinner for kids, not that my fussy kids always eat them, but if I offer meatballs to my kids I feel like I've made a good effort at getting decent food into them. I usually grate carrot and zucchini into my meatballs and cook them in a Tuscan sauce with rosemary and oregano and tomatoes. Not so that's its rich, but flavoursome.

Usually having a tomato based sauce with meatballs, I was excited to try these as I wanted to know how the creamy Tzatziki would go with them. And I love eggplant. I love anything with eggplant in it. And Feta. So I already knew these would be a win.

Make sure you use young eggplant or you'll need to salt (degorge) them before cooking to draw out the excess moisture and stop them from being bitter.

A friend asked for the recipe for these after I posted a photo on my Instagram account, so here it is:

Feta and Eggplant Meatballs
 
You'll need:
400g eggplant, finely chopped
2 tbs Olive Oil
500g Beef mince
1/3 cup chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley
1/3 cup chopped Mint
2 cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 tbs finely grated Lemon Rind
200g Feta, crumbled
Sea Salt and fresh cracked Black Pepper
1 tbs Olive Oil, extra
Lemon Wedges, to serve

Method:
Prehead the oven to 180C. Place the eggplant and oil on a baking tray and toll to coat. Roast for 30 Min or till golden. Remove and allow to cool.
Place the eggplant, mince, parsley, mint, garlic, lemon rind, feta, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir until well combined. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls. Place the extra oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the balls and cook for 3 - 4 minutes or till browned. Place on a baking tray and cook for 5 - 6 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with Tzatziki and lemon wedges.

I halved this recipe and it still made heaps of meatballs. 

 Tzatziki

What you'll need:
 2 cups (560g) thick Greek-style natural yoghurt (I just used Natural Yoghurt as that's what I had in the fridge)
1 Lebanese Cucumber, grated
2 tbs chopped Mint
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1 tbs Honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Sea Salt and cracked White Pepper

Method:
Place the yoghurt, cucumber, mint, garlic, honey, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine.

I made half of the Tzatziki recipe also, and it was great and so refreshing. Went soooooo well with the meatballs. I grated the cucumber with a really fine grater and squeezed the excess liquid out of them before adding them to the yoghurt or the dish would've been really runny. For a first Tzatziki, it tasted awesome.

This would make great party food too. A toothpick in the meatballs for individual serves. Easy peasy and so tasty!!

Spinach and Feta Pies

I'm a big fan of the spinach and feta combo. It always makes me feel like I'm eating something really healthy and I'm not bloated and super full afterwards. I've been thinking about making these pies for a little while now so finally remembered to buy some filo at my last shop and made them last week.

So so so so easy. Mixing together some spinach, feta, an egg and some orange rind (recipe calls for lemon rind but I only had an orange and I figured it'd still give that zesty fresh feel) with some mint in a bowl. Brush three sheets of filo with melted butter and layer them together. Cut to the size of the small tart tin, insert the filo, fill with the spinach mix, brush with a beaten egg and bake till golden.

Yum!

Chilli Beef and Snake Bean Stir-fry

If I'll be honest, I've been hesitant to make the 'chilli' dishes so far. While I love how chilli can transform a dish, the heat doesn't necessarily agree with me. Or my taste buds. And I like to be able to enjoy what I eat, not have my head blown off. 

So when this recipe called for 'Chilli Bean Paste' I substituted for Black Bean sauce and a finely diced and deseeded long red chilli. I marinated the beef in the sauce and chilli for a little while before cooking them on my grill pan. Once the meat was out and resting I then quickly cooked the garlic slivers and beans in a little more sauce. 

Both Hubby and I really enjoyed this dinner. There was no heat from the chilli and it was so easy and tasty, this would make a great BBQ dinner for those warm summer nights!

Panchetta, Mozzarella and Balsamic Sandwich

Substituting the Panchetta for Proscuitto, I made this sandwich for Hubby and I last weekend. I just love how the fresh basil compliments the tomato and mozerella. The balsamic addition just completes the picture.

Make sure you make it on fresh bread, as ours was a day old and in hindsight I should've warmed it as the three layers of bread made it hard to eat and we ended up pulling out the delicious filling and eating that on its own.

There's no cooking or mixing involved in this sandwich, just assembly so it's a nice and easy lunch time meal. Give it a go!

Melon with Rosewater Yoghurt

This is a beautiful Breakfast alternative for those warm summer mornings. Just be careful of the rosewater in the yoghurt. It can really HIT you!

Also, I didn't have any pistachios as the recipe calls for, so I toasted some cashews then added some honey right at the end so they caramelised a little. B-e-a-utiful! 

Really simple. Completely in the style of Donna Hay. Just beautiful food.

Choc-Chip Ice-Cream Sandwich

On these hot summer days, who doesn't like Ice-Cream? Anyone? No-one? Didn't think so.

How about an Ice-Cream sandwich? Maybe not for lunch, but a great afternoon snack to cool off from the scorching summer sun.

Best part about this easy recipe - you can use store-bought Ice-Cream!

I don't have an ice-cream maker and never remember to do the whole 'whisk every hour or so' thing. And I'm a busy Mum of two ratbags, so the easier it is for me, the more I love it.

This recipe does require you to make the biscuits for the sandwich, which was a fun afternoon with Noah as we sprinkled chocolate chips on top of measured and squared out batter. As they were so thin they didn't take long to cook too.

Noah kept asking and asking for the sandwich and I pushed it out till just before bath time as I knew it would be messy! In the end, he wasn't that keen and I'm thinking for dessert tonight I'll crunch up the remaining biscuits and scatter them over a bowl of Ice-Cream instead. Still just as yum!

Feta with Crispy Bread and Salad

If you're looking for a light lunch, this is it. It's so light and Summery and would serve as a great appetizer before a nice big dinner. And oh so easy.

After grilling some fresh Bruschetta, top it with Feta, Salad leaves, Parmesan, Salt and Pepper and Olive Oil.

See, told you it was easy.

It has a light salty taste from the cheeses and the crunchy toasted bread gives the added texture. Not to mention the oil soaks right in and mixes with the feta. Yum.

Try it next time you're in need of a quick but tasty lunch idea!!