Happy Monday and more importantly happy Labor Day! To those of you who have to work, I’m sorry. I had those jobs before and frankly, it sucks. Even though I am just hanging around the house today, I am keeping busy by flexing my domestic goddess muscles and prepping lunches for the rest of the week. I usually scour the interwebs to find my next Paleo lunch idea and the following image always inspires awe.
The Bento Box. Look at it, in all of its perfectly compartmentalized beauty. So organized and neat. Nothing touching. I have a thing with certain foods touching so this is a para-OCD’s box of dreams. However, I don’t have a Bento Box nor do I have the patience to make something so nicely separated. So instead, I like to make semi-appetizer-like foods. That way, I can have a bunch of little components to my lunch, like in a Bento Box, except nothing has to touch and I bring like 23 containers of food for my lunch. I know, I’m slightly insane, but whatever. These meatballs are damn good. 
Gather your ingredients: ground pork, fresh parsley (make sure it’s fresh, dried won’t do the job), garlic, egg, mustard, caraway or fennel seeds, paprika, S&P. 
Mince the garlic and roughly chop the parsley. Mix everything but the pork in a large bowl. 
Crumble in the ground pork.
Mix the pork into the spice, egg, and mustard mixture. You can either mix with a spoon or your hands if you’re in the mood to get a little dirty 🙂 Do not over-mix or the meat will become tough. 
Using a tablespoon, portion out each meatball. Wet your hands with some water and roll the meat into balls. The water will keep the meat from sticking to your hands. Place the meatballs on a large foil lined pan about 1/2 inch apart. 
Place the meatballs into 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
This recipe yields about 40 1.5-2 inch meatballs. A good serving size is anywhere from 8-12 meatballs depending on how hungry you are.
Even though they are baked for close to a half hour, the meatballs stay moist and delicious. Serve alone or with a yummy dipping sauce. Mixing Paleo mayo and garlic chili sauce makes a nice dip!
Paleo-Friendly Meals: Pork Meatballs
Number of servings: 4
Per Serving 255 calories
Fat 20 g
Carbs 2 g
Protein 17 g
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds or fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup parsley leaves, minced
- 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
- 1 egg
- 2 lbs ground pork
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- In a large bowl combine garlic, salt, seeds, paprika, pepper, parsley, mustard, and egg. Mix until combined.
- Crumble ground pork into bowl and mix well. Use your hands if you're up for getting down and dirty. 🙂
- Wet your hands and using a tablespoon, form the mix into 1.5-2 inch balls. The moisture on your hands will keep the pork from sticking too much.
- Place the meatballs on the foil-lined pan and space about 1/2 inch apart.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Enjoy!