Stress Busting Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

You know those healthy pure raw chocolate truffles I raved about a few weeks ago? Well, the creator of those fabulous delights, Shari Leidich, has whipped up a cookbook called, Two Moms in the Raw: Simple, Clean, Irresistible Recipes for Your Family’s Health. Interestingly enough, the cookbook isn’t 100% raw, but is a mix of healthful, innovative raw and cooked recipes, like these nourishing, dairy-free, gluten-free turkey meatballs.

To note, this is my first taste of the Two Moms in the Raw cookbook, too, as it hasn’t been released quite yet. It is scheduled for release on May 5, 2015, but is available for pre-order now.

Nonetheless, I do know a bit about the philosophy behind this cookbook. Shari, who lives with MS, thinks of food as medicine that can increase vitality and reduce stress, as evidenced in these multi-purpose gluten-free turkey meatballs. Not only do they provide “sneaky” nourishment with loads of fresh vegetables, they also have an herbal “stress-busting” component from eleuthero and ashwagandha.

The Two Moms in the Raw cookbook offers over 130 recipes that are broken down by the following categories: juices and smoothies; breakfast; dips; soups; salads; veggie mains; fish, poultry, and beef; and sweet treats and snacks.

I’m not certain if the cookbook is completely dairy-free (I do believe it’s fully gluten-free), but all that I’ve seen thus far is, and I think Shari would use a light hand with dairy.

Special Diet Notes: Stress Busting Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and generally top food allergy-friendly.

Okay with Gluten and/or Eggs? If you don’t have need for gluten-free, you can use the noodles of your choice, and Shari has noted that you can use an egg in place of the flax meal in the gluten-free turkey meatballs if you do use eggs and don’t have any flax on hand.

Herb Note – As Shari notes, the eleuthero and ashwagandha do not notably affect the taste or consistency of the gluten-free turkey meatballs or tomato sauce, so if you don’t have any on hand, you can omit them. I’ve found that the “fresh” eleuthero she calls for is a bit hard to come by, but ashwagandha is a very common herbal supplement that can even be readily bought in bulk.

Stress Busting Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

75 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

 

Flax meal binds these babies together the way eggs might (sub in an egg for the flaxseeds if you don’t have any). In small amounts, eleuthero and ashwagandha help the body regulate stress and maintain balance (happy adrenals make for a happy mama). In these amounts, they don’t add any discernible taste but improve my health in ways I can feel.

Author: Shari Koolik Leidich

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Reserved chopped chard stems
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2½ pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped
• 6 or 7 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• ½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 2 teaspoons ashwagandha
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 cup finely chopped baby spinach
• 1 small carrot, peeled and finely shredded
• 1 shallot, minced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons flax meal
• 2 teaspoons salt-free Italian seasoning
• 1½ teaspoons dried (not ground) eleuthero (see herb note in post above)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ashwagandha (see herb note in post above)
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Cooked brown rice spaghetti noodles or other organic gluten-free noodles (such as spiralized sweet potatoes or "zoodles"), for serving

Instructions

For the Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

1. In a 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 6 minutes.
2. Add the chard stems and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oregano, ashwagandha, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.

For the Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs

1. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, spinach, carrot, shallot, garlic, parsley, flax meal, Italian seasoning, eleuthero, salt, ashwagandha, and pepper and mix well.
2. Form the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the meatballs until golden, turning occasionally, 5 to 6 minutes total.
4. Gently lower the gluten-free turkey meatballs into the simmering tomato sauce. Simmer until the meatballs absorb some of the sauce and soften, about 50 to 60 minutes.
5. Serve over the noodles.

Notes

Recipes and Photography from TWO MOMS IN THE RAW by Shari Koolik Leidich. Copyright © 2015 by Shari Koolik Leidich. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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