Beef Meatballs with Cumin, Coriander & Mint; Israeli Couscous; Dandelion Greens with Bacon Lardon, Ricotta Salata & Sherry Vinaigrette

Remember that gig I did a few posts back? The birthday party? If you've been keeping up with What I Eat you should remember israeli couscous with this, israeli couscous with that. Jesus christ, so much israeli couscous leftover! Ok, I miscalculated but you know how them pasta can be. Blowin up and all.

So I wanted to make something to go along with the israeli couscous studded with dried currants, pinenuts and chopped basil. I also had greek yogurt leftover in the fridge and I thought ooh, why not some meatballs and cucumber yogurt sauce? Except I didn't make the cucumber yogurt sauce because I didn't want to buy a whole container of persian cucumbers at Trader Joe's when I really only needed one. So I seasoned the greek yogurt simply with lemon juice, liberal amounts of garic and black pepper.

Now for the meatballs, I wanted to make lamb meatballs but Trader Joe's does not sell ground lamb. Nor ground pork, fyi. So I went with what they had, some really good looking ground angus beef. I seasoned it with a coriander-cumin spice mix I had made ages ago (maybe half an age) from making roasted cauliflower. I also added to the seasoning a small handful of withering mint which I was determined to use up. Perhaps some parsley went in there too. Then I added some milk-soaked dinner rolls leftover from the sliders from the same gig.

I formed them into nicely sized patties (instead of completely round spheres for quicker cooking) and cooked them up in a jiffy. Paired with the cool touch of the greek yogurt and light and still textural israeli couscous, these meatballs made a satisfying meal.



But alas there was another challenge. Using up the leftover dandelion greens. I made a similar salad to the one I served at the birthday party sans roasted kabocha squash. But the bacon, ricotta salta, shallots, and sherry vinaigrette was still there so it's all good!