So the school holidays are over (in Queensland anyway) which, for many of us, means getting back into the routines of preparing and cooking school lunches and dinners for the whole family.  I was inspired by my friend Emma to share some dinner recipes to make it easier to get back into routine. I’m going to share a recipe each day for the next 7 days focusing on simplicity, taste and nutrition (of course!).

The first recipe is what I’m calling Coconut Chicken Meatballs with Brown Rice Noodles and Salad. This will take you less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook. It’s perfectly balanced with chicken providing the protein, brown rice noodles and salad providing carbohydrates and avocado providing healthy fats.

Coconut Chicken Meatballs with Brown Rice Noodles and Salad

Ingredients

Salad

Your choice of lettuce, washed and chopped

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, washed

1 cucumber, washed and sliced

100 grams snow peas, washed and sliced

1 avocado sliced
Brown rice noodles (200g packet, eg Nutritionist Choice brand)

Meatballs

coconut oil, butter or ghee, for frying

500 g organic free range chicken mince

1 carrot, grated

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 egg

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

handful coriander or flat leaf parsley leaves, to taste

For meat balls, put all ingredients (except the oil) in the food processor and blend until smooth. Using your hands, form small balls (smaller balls cook quicker). Heat several tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot enough that a meatball sizzles as soon as it hits the pan, put the meatballs in. Cook for 2 minutes, then roll the meatballs over and cook 5 minutes more. Put a lid on the pan and cooking for another 6-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare salad and and cook brown rice noodles per instructions (usually only for a couple of minutes). Serve meatballs with noodles, salad and a wedge of lime and soy sauce for dressing. SERVES 4