Spaghetti and Turkey Balls

On Saturday I told Annika to choose a recipe from her kids' cookbook.  I watched nervously, praying that she would not choose mac and cheese for the hundredth time (okay, like third, but it seems like 100).  She sailed right over mac and cheese and chose spaghetti with meatballs, with one slight modification. 

Annika:  "I choose spaghetti with meatballs.  But we don't eat MEATballs.  EEEEEEW!  We'll have to make spaghetti with turkey balls."

This is not her first introduction to turkey meatballs.  Nigella Lawson has a phenomenal turkey meatball recipe.  (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/turkey-meatballs-in-tomato-sauce-recipe/index.html)  We've had it a number of times.  No matter how often we eat it, however, Annika cannot seem to say "turkey meatball."  It is always "turkey balls."  And God forbid you accidentally call them "meatballs."  You immediately get "EEEEEW!  We don't eat MEATballs!"  I've created a monster.  But at least she's a healthy monster.  A healthy monster who hopefully does not go to school and tell her teacher she ate turkey balls for dinner. 

Annika chose cauliflower as the vegetable accompaniment to her spaghetti and turkey balls.  "My favorite vegetable, of course!"  Yeah, favorite except the time that broccoli was your favorite, or beans were your favorite, or peas.  I went online and found a yummy-sounding cauliflower recipe.   (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/cauliflower-with-brown-butter-recipe/index.html)

Sunday afternoon rolled around and dinner time approached.  Feeling benevolent, I did all the prep work.  I chopped everything that needed chopping and premeasured everything else into little bowls to make it easy and (hopefully) mess-free.   Annika chose that precise moment to declare that she didn't feel like cooking.  I'm sure there are more constructive ways to deal with a fickle four-year-old than saying "That's too bad, you committed to this.  You either do it or you lose your DVD for the night."  Unfortunately, I don't know them.  So into the kitchen we went, one of us quite begrudgingly.  Once she climbed the stepstool and started pouring stuff into the pan, she completely forgot that she didn't want to cook.  After we sauteed a clove of minced garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil, we added two cans of diced tomatoes, some oregano, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, some salt, and a cup of water.  Then it was time to make the turkey balls.  

To make turkey balls, Annika put a pound of ground turkey (I use dark meat), an egg, about a quarter cup of bread crumbs (the recipe called for 6 crushed saltines, but I don't keep saltines in the house, so this was my estimated replacement), oregano, and salt.  Then you take your (meticulously cleaned) hands and mix away.  I don't know whether it was the egg or the raw turkey, but Annika became quite squeamish.  She hung in there like a champ until the ingredients were mixed and even rolled about 5 turkey balls.  Then she fled to the kitchen sink to scrub all the yuckiness off her hands.  I have to admit, this is not my favorite part of cooking.  I put on a brave face so that Annika would think plunging one's hands into dead flesh is no big deal and rolled the remaining turkey balls. 

Once the balls were rolled, we dropped them carefully into the simmering tomato sauce.  Annika did great on this step.  Usually she drops items into simmering liquid from the highest point she can possibly reach, which results in hot liquid splashing everywhere and me getting irritated.  This time she gently dropped them from a reasonable height, saving us both some trouble.  I put the lid on the pan to let them cook and released Annika from further cooking duties. 

I should add that all of this was accomplished with Astrid strapped to me in her Ergo carrier as my attempts to get her to sit in her jumperoo or high chair were met with howls of protest.  Since it is not safe to brown butter and saute cauliflower with an infant strapped to your chest in a flammable cotton carrier, I dropped the baby with Swede before I finished cooking. 

I cooked the spaghetti noodles (quinoa pasta - if you haven't tried it, you should - it tastes like the naughty white stuff but has more fiber and protein) and made the cauliflower without incident.  Although I confess that the thought of using four tablespoons of butter for only one head of cauliflower horrified me a bit.  As much as I love butter and think it is okay to use to make veggies palatable, I cut it and the breadcrumbs in half.  The cauliflower still tasted great and plenty buttery.  One of the great things about browning butter is it really makes the flavor much more intense and pervasive.  Consequently, you need less.  Two tablespoons was perfectly fine. 

We all sat down for dinner and Annika - having chosen and prepared the dinner - declared it delicious.  Nigella's meatballs are better, no question. But for a simple recipe from a children's cookbook, the meatballs were quite good.  I would use more bread crumbs next time because they turned out pretty dense.  But they were a good blend of salty and savory.  The tomato sauce turned out surprisingly flavorful.  Annika, Swede, and I enjoyed our dinner.  Astrid enjoyed scooping up small handfuls of Rice Krispies (the organic brown rice version from Whole Foods) and releasing them onto the floor.   That's why we have dogs, right?