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Arabic Meatballs


shopping list:

aprrox. 1 pound of 4% lean ground beef (you can usually find it at Albertson's or Trader Joe's; if you can't get 4%, then just get the lowest you can find.  also, it'll probably be a little more than a pound)

green onions

8oz can of Tomato sauce (the no salt added kind if they have it)
make sure you get tomato sauce, not tomato paste

Three or four lemons

Allspice
 
Cardamom

pepper

 

Directions:

Rinse off green onions.  Cut off the roots, leaving as much of the white as possible.  Cut approx. one half of the top green part off and discard.  Finely chop remaining green part with knife.  Use choppy thing to chop white part.

Make lemon juice from the lemons.  Set aside.

Open the beef package, and get a bowl.  Put 1 teaspoon of allspice and all of the chopped green onions in the bowl.  Put beef in bowl.  Squeeze and turn the beef with your hands, being sure to mix the allspice and green onions thoroughly and evenly into the beef.

Coat the bottom of a large pot with a small amount of olive oil.

Make balls out of the beef and start putting them in the pan, arranging them so that they all fit but don't quite touch each other.

Heat the pan on high until stuff starts sizzling, then turn the heat down until it's only moderately sizzling. 

After about two minutes of sizzling, turn the meatballs over so the other side gets cooked.  Cook other side for about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle some cardamom over the meatballs.

Empty the can of tomato sauce in the pot.

Using the empty tomato can, add 1 1/2 cans of water into the pot as well.

Add the lemon juice.  

Sprinkle pepper on everything.   

Wait for the mixture to come to a gentle boil, set temperature to simmer or just above simmering, cover pot, let simmer for 25 minutes.  

 

Tip:  I have 3 meatballs for approximately six meals.

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