greek meatballs with yogurt dill sauce

 I've been wanting to try some of Caro Chambers recipes after following her on Instagram for a while now and this was a great first one to try-- everyone enjoyed! I did double the meat for three hungry teens without doubling all the seasonings seeing they aren't always up for full flavor and left out the couscous steps to keep it celiac safe. Below documents the recipe as I made it. 

greek turkey meatballs with couscous and dill yogurt sauce

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

Meatballs, Zucchini, and Couscous:

• 2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise, 1/4-inch sliced
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
• Kosher salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 egg
• 2 pounds ground turkey or chicken
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup GF panko breadcrumbs
• 1 small shallot, finely minced
• 3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• prepared rice

Dill Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, grated or minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt

Extra Toppings:

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) feta, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons of whatever nut! (I like toasted pistachios or chopped almonds)
• 1 to 2 cups of greens! (I used baby arugula)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Place one oven rack on the center rung (for baking and roasting), and one on the top rung (for broiling). 
2. In a 9x13-inch baking dish, toss the 2 chopped zucchinis with 1 tablespoon neutral oil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper until evenly coated. 
3. Roast zucchini for 7 minutes on the middle oven rack. 
4. While it roasts, make the meatballs.
5. Crack 2 eggs into a large bowl and whisk. Stir in 2 pounds ground turkey (or chicken), 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 cup GF panko breadcrumbs, 1 finely minced shallot, 3 grated garlic cloves, the zest of 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon), 4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Stir it all to mix well, then use your hands to form 15 to 20 meatballs. No need to dirty up another plate here — just shove the meat to one half of the bowl and start forming and piling the meatballs on the other side.
6. Remove the zucchini from the oven and raise the oven temperature to broil (on high).
7. Stir the zucchini. (It will not be finished cooking yet and might be watery looking, etc. Don’t worry! It’ll get there). Place the meatballs on top. Drizzle some neutral oil over the meatballs, or spray them with cooking spray.
8. Slide the dish onto the top oven rack and broil the meatballs for 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly golden-brown on top. Reduce heat to 425°F and continue cooking for an additional 12 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, make the dill yogurt sauce. Combine 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 garlic clove (grated or minced), 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a small bowl. Stir and adjust seasoning to taste. 
10. Serve meatballs over top of the rice with lots of dill yogurt sauce and toppings.

chicken gyros

We tried this recipe that I found on www.ourfamilyeats.com for the first time tonight and, I have to say, everyone loved it.  Elle would have just eaten the sauce with a spoon, Cael ate plenty of chicken and veggies, and Kory and I were both pleasantly surprised with this very simple recipe.  Kory said he'd like to have chopped olives and feta cheese to go with it next time, which I guess would change this from nontraditional gyros into greek pita sandwiches, but I agreed that they would make delicious accompaniments. We did use whole wheat pitas to keep this recipe quite healthy.