Thai Meatballs With Peanut Sauce

I am a fanatic about Thai food. I drool just thinking about the exotic cuisine's wide pallet of intense flavors, the spicy curry dishes that meld with sweet, creamy coconut milk. Savory and sweet dishes, noodles or rice dishes-- there are so many wonderful choices when it comes to Thai food. Unfortunatly I haven't utilized my Asian cookbook very much because of all of the daunting, expensive, tedious ingredients that Thai food requires. However I found an easy Thai-inspired dish on a very helpful blog called Meal Planning 101 that is delicious, and I didn't have to search very far for the few Thai ingredients needed. I found them right in my local grocery store's Asian section. When I found this recipe I knew this was what I would make Paul for his birthday dinner! We both loved its creamy peanut and coconut sauce that was spicy and sweet over the flavorful, moist meatballs that were processed in the Marinade Express and cooked in the oven to perfection.

Thai Meatballs With Peanut Sauce

Thai Meatballs With Peanut Sauce

Adapted from Meal Planning 101:

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tbsp hoisin sauce (found in the Asian section of a grocery store)

2 tbsp bread crumbs

3 green onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

1 egg

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp sesame oil

Peanut Sauce:

1 cup light coconut milk (found in the Asian section of a grocery store)

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp peanut butter (smooth)

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

1 tbsp  fresh ginger, grated

1 zest of a lemon

1/8 tsp crushed red peppers flakes

Serve:

Serve over Vermicelli rice noodles

Garnish with fresh cilantro

Directions:

1) Prep the ground beef in The Marinade Express. I chose to use Sesame Ginger MX Seasoning since I was using this beef for Thai food. Carefully place the beef on one side of the divider, let it rotate for 3 rotations. Stop it when the beef is out of the water. Let it rest for 5 to10 minutes atop the divider to drain out the excess water. Open the Marinade Express drum and carefully remove the beef. It becomes extra delicate after being processed in the Marinade Express.

2) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets with tin foil and nonstick spray for an easy clean-up.

3) In a large bowl mix in all meatball ingredients.You may need to use your hands to really make sure that everything gets mixed together well.

Note: If you have leftover ginger, put it in a sandwich bag and pop it in the freezer. It keeps really fresh this way and it makes it easier to grate.

4) Form the meat mixture into 1 and 1/12 inch balls and space them out on the baking sheets. Pop the meatballs into the fridge to chill while you prep for the sauce. Once all of the sauce ingredients are in the saucepan pop the meatballs into the oven. Bake for 14-17 minutes.

5) Boil water for the rice noodles. Let the noodles boil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft.

6) For the Sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stir all ingredients together. Let the sauce come to a boil , then turn the heat down and let it simmer until the meatballs are done.

7) Remove the meatballs from the oven. Place the noodles on a plate, place 3 to 4 meatballs on the noodles, add sauce, and garnish with cilantro. Serve immediately!