Baked Chicken Meatballs

GRAB THE COTTAGE CHEESE!

Midlife is like a jigsaw puzzle of nutrition information, and I can’t always seem to put the puzzle together. Everyone keeps telling me to eat more protein, but it’s not always easy to pack it in. These chicken meatballs rely on a not-so-secret weapon (cottage cheese) that adds extra protein and a nice creaminess that moistens lower-fat ground chicken. I also use it in this lasagna recipe.

It takes about 15 minutes to mix up this ground meat mixture, and then you portion the meatballs with an ice cream scoop for maximum efficiency. They cook for about 15 minutes, so a warm dinner is ready fast. The last time I made these in my monthly cooking class for my cooking school membership, my husband swiped about six off the tray the minute class ended.

I like to serve these with a drizzle of my Any Greens Pesto. Add a side of orzo or roasted broccolini or grilled vegetables. They’d also be delish on a bed of whipped feta and Greek yogurt — I have a recipe for that in my cookbook. Just use a blender to mix together Greek yogurt with some feta, lemon zest, garlic and salt.

This recipe serves 4 to 6 and makes 12 to 15 2-inch meatballs. The full recipe is written out below, and there’s a PDF version to save to your computer or print, plus substitutions for gluten-free and dairy-free versions.