Why is it that foods in the shape of a ball always seem to taste better? Peanut butter balls, cheese balls, energy balls, protein balls, meatballs! Maybe it’s just me.

Meatballs are one of my go to easy meals that I have in rotation during the weekdays. They literally take less than 10 minutes to prepare and you can make them in so many different ways. I never get bored with them. A lot of traditional meatball recipes call for breadcrumbs and eggs to bind the meat together, but since I don’t eat grains or even a lot of flours, I just omit that part and the meatballs still seem to form nicely.

I love sneaking in greens whenever I can. I mean you can only eat so many salads before it just feels like all you do is eat leaves! Adding in fresh herbs is a super easy way to get some greens into your diet, so what better way to do that by chopping them up and adding them to a meatball!? I love any type of Mexican food and especially love the guac from Chipotle. I looked around the internet trying to find a copycat recipe and found out it has red onion, cilantro and lime juice! It inspired me to put those things into a meatball that I could dip into some guac, cause, why not!?

Cilantro is a really cool herb. Studies have shown that it actually removes heavy metals from the body! Last week in this blog post, I talked about how a lot of personal care products and makeup contain heavy metals in them. For example, deodorant contains aluminum that blocks the pores in your armpit that keep you from sweating and has even been linked to Alzheimers disease! And lipstick has been tested for levels of lead. From now on I am trying my hardest to steer clear from those things, but after years of using those conventional products, I am sure my body could use some help detoxing. Cue cilantro.

Studies have also shown that cilantro has antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress, lower anxiety and stabilizes blood sugar. I mean, how could you not want to get more cilantro into your life?! Well, you probably don’t if you are one of those people who think that cilantro tastes like soap. Which I think is SO weird, but I guess its a genetic thing.

Now, go whip up these meatballs. They will be done in no time flat, put ’em on top of a salad to get even more greens or dip them into some salsa or guacamole!

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Cilantro Lime Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1/2 small-medium red onion diced
• 3 fresh garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• juice from one lime

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Dice 1/2 of a red onion, mince the garlic and chop fresh cilantro and add to the bowl with ground chicken.

3. Add the salt and pepper and juice from one lime.

4. Stir (I use my hands) all of the ingredients together until well combined and then form into 1-2 inch meatballs. I usually get about 11-12 meatballs. 

5. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a cast iron pan on medium high heat. 

6. Cook the meatballs in the cast iron pan for 1-2 minutes and then flip to the other side for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown on the outside. 

7. Pop into the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked all the way through. 

8. Garnish with fresh cilantro and squeeze of lime juice and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Adjust the amount of garlic to your taste. You could also use garlic powder or jarred minced garlic in place of fresh.