Lime and Coconut Meatballs

Hello again! It's been a crazy, emotional week here and today it was nice to get out of the house and have a BBQ picnic lunch. Tomorrow is our fresh food shopping day so I was running seriously low on meat, fruit and vegetables. I did have some grass fed beef mince and a heap of organic limes though (organic limes were $2 a bag at the farmer's market last week, you are probably starting to realise now that I can't pass up a good bargain).

I decided to try something I usually do with chicken or turkey mince but with beef. It's super easy and something the kids love to help with. I started by whisking chia and coconut milk together with a fork and setting it aside for 10 minutes. While the chia was doing it's thing I got started on combining all the other ingredients together. I chucked the beef mince in and then moved onto zesting the lime. The lime I used today was not very green but my goodness it smelt divine! 

After zesting the lime, I mixed in shredded coconut, coconut flour, salt and pepper. Then I went back to see if my chia has finished doing it's thing and it had thickened up nicely. I whisked it with a fork quickly and then added that to the mince mix. Next came the part I hate, mixing it all together with my hands and then rolling them. A little tip I picked up from watching Jamie Oliver a few years ago is to lightly wet your hands before you start rolling meatballs so they don't stick. I do that all the time now and have no problems with the meat sticking.

As we were taking the meatballs along to be cooked on a BBQ, I packed them up with some baking paper to stop them from sticking. I then threw the only veggies and fruit I had in the house into a container to take as sides. You see all those cherry tomatoes there? Somehow Miss M managed to eat all of them! Whoops! She is a little obsessed with tomatoes at the moment. She is the only one in our house who can eat tomatoes on a regular basis yet we still go though over a kilo week!

When we got the park my wonderful friend Dawn cooked up the meatballs and some yummy chicken while her and I chatted with some other mums, or ran around after Miss M, who is still a little young to understand that when Mummy says not to run into the car-park it's for her own safety, not because I'm a big meanie! When they were ready, they were almost all gobbled up and Miss E finished off what was left later in the afternoon. So now onto the recipe...

Ingredients

500g mince meat (we used grass fed beef today but you can try chicken, turkey, etc.)
1 tablespoon ground chia seeds

1/4 cup organic lite coconut milk

Zest of 1 lime

1 tablespoon shredded coconut

1 tablespoon coconut flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil for frying (we used coconut oil)

Method

1. Combine chia and coconut milk and whisk with a fork. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine mince, lime zest, shredded coconut, coconut flour, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Lightly mix.
3. Add chia mix, combine well with your hands.
4. Roll into balls and fry in oil until cooked through. Serve,

Variations

• Turn them into patties and make burgers, or lettuce wraps with safe cheese, salads and sauce. 

• Add some dried chilli flakes for a little kick.

• Serve with some lime mayo (If eggs are a safe food). You can use the juice of the lime you use for the zest to make your own.

So there we go! Make sure you let me know what you think here or on Facebook. I look forward to hearing how you all go. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Happy Cooking!
Jasmine x