Southwest Turkey Meatballs with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

I don't follow Weight Watchers, but have been feeling the effects of two children on my belly, so I turned to Gina's Skinny Recipes, aka: Skinny Taste for some of my meal planning this week. I'm not sure what it was about this recipe that caught my eye, but it definitely did.

I definitely de-skinnified this quite a bit. See, I served it on a roll, and it's not even a whole wheat one. Making the sauce, I only had full fat mayo, and I only had whole milk yogurt (which I strained a little bit, but not enough that the sauce was the consistency I wanted). So, in the end, I took this Skinny Taste and made it a Fatty Taste (though certainly no "fat sandwich," a specialty at the university around the corner from us).

I especially liked that this involved baking the meatballs, because when I fry meatballs? I get so frustrated, they fall apart, etc etc. These are baked; hooray!! So much easier anyway.

I thought these meatballs were delicious--with the sauce, without the sauce, on the roll, and the sauce was delicious on my salad. Again, E-boy went nuts because he loves food. A-boy ate "enough" of his meatballs. M did not like it; when I asked what he didn't like, he said he didn't like any of it, but most especially the sauce. Sigh.

I definitely suggest you make these, cause MY tastebuds are the RIGHT ones.

Southwest Turkey Meatballs by: Gina's Skinny Recipes


1-1/4 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
1 jalapeño, seeds removed (leave some in for spicier meatballs)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tsp cumin
pinch oregano
salt and fresh pepper
cooking spray
Creamy Cilantro Tomatillo Dipping Sauce; recipe follows


Lightly spray baking pan with oil. Preheat oven to 400°.Place jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, and scallions into a small food processor or chopper and pulse a few times until finely minced.In a large bowl combine turkey, chopped herbs, bread crumbs, egg, cumin, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix well and measure 1/4 cup meat, then divide in two so you end up with each meatball 1/8 cup in size. Roll and place on a baking pan.
Bake meatballs at 400° 15 minutes.

Creamy Cilantro Tomatillo Dipping Sauce by Gina's Skinny Recipes


1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 small jalapeno, seeds removed, leave them in if you want it spicy
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
1 tomatillo, husks removed, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 scallion
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender.