I am a very plain, dull and boring cook! There I said it and my family will agree. But when my family eats something that is not organic, they complain how "average or tasteless" the food is. At least when they are eating my plain, dull and boring food, they are eating healthy food void of seasoning overload and the actual flavor of food that is not masked with fake stuff.
Having allergies and intolerances for most of my family at home is a challenge. Over the years, I have learned how to make adaptations to many recipes, but I tend to stick to the same recipes, which leads to a boring menu.
Often, my mom will ask over and over, "how did you get all of these allergies? You didn’t have allergies as a kid." Well times have definitely changed. We didn’t have Round Up being sprayed on our foods and we ate organically. From our garden, to the neighbors garden, to the beef and chicken and pork, then it was the trip to the stores for the other items that didn't come out of a garden or a neighbors farm.
Our food was not saturated in chemicals and now because of Lyme's Disease, it has exacerbated my allergies and intolerances. I am a fortunate lady, because I was not infected with the meat allergy that a lot of people contract from Lyme's Disease, but I did get a whole host of other and tolerances and allergies to add to my portfolio of allergens.
Unfortunately I have tested to have all of the top eight allergens and beyond and over the past few weeks, I am really trying to modify and adapt recipes to accommodate everyone palate, which has been a huge challenge. Eggs, all grains, dairy, soy, nuts, beans, whey, and so many more are high on the list of not being able to use. I am a label reader, but trying to find out what will and will not cause inflammation in my body and eliminate the triggers has been a discovery I was not prepared for.
This weekend I was in the mood for meatballs but I also know I could not use the traditional egg and grain binder to hold the meatballs together. So I decided to become creative and try something unique and by golly it was the golden nugget for me and my family didn’t complain. I was able to cook the meatballs in my air fryer and they weren’t dry and didn't fall apart. I’ll share my newly discovered that I am so excited about and I am as happy as a hummingbird finding a hummingbird feeder.
This recipe is so simple it took less than 30 minutes from start to finish and there are a few alternatives to what can be used with this recipe. For this recipe, I used chicken, but I'm fairly certain it will work with beef too. I don’t eat pork so I’m not sure how it would turn out, but I can’t imagine it being bad
Air Fryer Allergen Free Meatballs Makes 24
Now I am a toss in it kind of cook, which is probably why my food is strange sometimes, but I have always enjoyed guessing on recipes simply because I can’t bake to save the day.
2lbs ground grass fed chicken or grass fed beef Kosher salt, I used applewood seasoning salt for this recipe but I’m sure any good kosher salt would work. A few good shakes of organic Basil Two capfuls organic olive oil About 1/4 cup gluten-free Ian’s Panko crumbs
Mix together and form 24 meatballs touching side by side in the air fryer.
Cook at 400 for 18 minutes, pull fryer rack, separate meatballs and shake and cook for another five minutes. Now I’m sure you could stop at the 18 minutes, and they would be perfect but I like everything well done and I’m a paranoid kind a girl and always cook extra well done everything.
Since they were cooked in the air fryer I didn’t have to worry about draining them and I transferred into a container.
For some dipping sauce, use barbecue sauce, marinara sauce, gravy or another favorite sauce or add them to a pasta meal. Five of them were perfect for a lunchtime meal.
Now don’t ask me about the nutritional information because I really am not into counting calories. But they’re healthy and don’t have all of the extra ingredients and fillers the bagged meatballs have.
The oil and the gluten-free Panko were perfect binders to replace the egg, oats or breadcrumbs.
This is definitely going into my regular recipe rotation and next time I will probably experiment a little more and add some onion, garlic and some other seasonings depending on the dish it will be served in.
Enjoy!
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