Cheers to winter where it’s been about 50 degrees on average! There have been some chilly days but overall, much better than a NY winter. We took the dogs hiking last weekend, which they absolutely loved. It was 65 and sunny, couldn’t ask for anything better than that in January.
Back in NY, I would sometimes brave the Rochester Public Market on a wintry Saturday morning. That was one of my favorite things about Rochester. Saturday mornings I would grab my market bag, grab a coffee, and go shopping. I loved people watching and the produce was always fantastic. I would challenge myself to see how much I could get for $20. I always came out a winner. My bag would be absolutely overflowing and I would have a couple in hand as well.
Down here however, the markets don’t even compare. There are a couple markets here, in Raleigh and Durham. The produce is pretty good but the pricing is quite high. We did stumble across a small vendor set up at the State Fairgrounds. That place reminded me of home. Baskets of produce, standardized pricing, lots of selection. We got some poblano peppers, tomatillos, and garlic. Everything I needed to make homemade salsa verde.
Salsa verde was easier to make than I thought. I roasted all the vegetables off in the oven. Smelled fantastic. Blended it up; added salt, pepper, and a little cumin. You can freeze it for later use or use it to bake with chicken taco meatballs. Yes, that’s a thing. Or at least it is now. I used the same spice mixture I use for ground beef or turkey on taco night. But instead of keeping it ground up, I formed them into meatballs. Poured the salsa verde into a casserole dish, added the meatballs to bake in the sauce. Similar concept when I make meatballs and red sauce. 
The outcome, was super moist chicken meatballs that tasted like a taco. I don’t know what could possibly be better than that. We just ate the meatballs and salsa verde over rice. You could also cut them up and make a taco out of them as well. I’m sure there are tons of possibilities. Experiment and enjoy!
xo, Alicia
CHICKEN TACO MEATBALLS W/ SALSA VERDE
6-8 Servings – 20 min. prep – about 2 hrs cook time
Ingredients
For the Salsa Verde
6-8 medium tomatillos
1 medium poblano pepper
1/2 white onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt, pepper, cumin
Olive oil
For the Meatballs
1 package of ground chicken (1lb)
1 egg
1/2 C breadcrumbs
Taco Mix 1tsp salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
- Quarter the tomatillos, poblano, and onion. Add to a large sheet pan
- Add garlic cloves, whole. Toss with some olive oil
- Roast for about 1 hour. Flipping halfway through.
- Once out of the oven, let cool for about 10 minutes before blending
- Add the contents of the sheet pan to the food processor. Season with salt, pepper and cumin
- Blend until mostly smooth. Add more olive oil if needed to blend to the desired con- sistency
- Onto the meatballs, turn the oven up to 400 degrees F
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix enough to combine but do not over mix
10.Form the mixture into 1 inch balls
11.When ready to bake: pour the salsa verde into a casserole dish
12.Place the meatballs into the casserole dish, on top of the salsa verde
13.Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Turn them over after 12 minutes
14.Remove from the oven. Serve over rice or in a tortilla as a taco. Enjoy!
The Wooden Spoon 