Chili-Cumin Pan-Fried Meatballs for #TripleSBites

It's not a party without some meatballs, right? I whipped up these #TripleSBite-worthy ones with a little help from event sponsors Acala Farms and Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices. 

Just for fun, here are the (purported) aphrodisiac qualities to this dish...

Chili peppers: The capsaicin in chili peppers heats up the body, increases blood flow, and causes the brain to release endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals. Many cultures throughout history have claimed peppers as an aphrodisiac. 

Cucumber: Besides the obvious assumption about the cucumber, it's been reported that the scent of cucumber arouses women. Hmmm...I've never thought about that. Also, its high water content, when consumed, can also hydrate and refresh you.

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 pound grass-fed organic ground beef
• 1/2 C small cubes of bread or breadcrumb
• 1 t chunky garlic (I used some from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices)
• 1/2 t lemongrass (I used some from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices)
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1 egg
• flour for rolling
• Chili Cumin-Infused Cottonseed Oil by Acala Farms for frying

Yogurt Sauce

• 2 C plain Greek-style yogurt
• splash of Chili Cumin-Infused Cottonseed Oil by Acala Farms
• 1 C cucumber slices
• freshly chopped herbs (I used some parsley and mint)
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper

For Serving

• pita breads
• freshly chopped herbs (I used some parsley and mint)
• crumbled feta cheese

Procedure

Meatballs

Place all of the ingredients, except the flour and the oil, together in a bowl. Blend - with your hands - until well-combined. Take a teaspoon of meat and roll them into balls. Roll the balls in the flour and set aside. Place the oil in a large, flat-bottom pan and heat. Cook the meatballs until browned and cooked through; they will be firm to the touch.

Yogurt Sauce
Place all of the ingredient together in a bowl. Stir to combine.

For Serving
I used a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to make my pitas Valentine-y. Put the pita on a plate. Spoon the yogurt sauce on the pita. And place two or three meatballs on the sauce. Garnish with fresh herbs and crumbed cheese.

Thanks, Acala Farms (click for my Acala Farms product review) and Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices* - just two of our #TripleSBites sponsors - for ingredients used in this recipe.

*Full Disclosure: I received two bottles of Flavor-Infused Cottonseed Oil from Acala Farms and an assortment of prepared and lightly dried herbs for participating in #TripleSBites. Feel free to use whatever oil and herbs you have on-hand. I received no additional compensation for this post; all comments are 100% accurate and 100% my own.

Here's what everyone else brought to the table today...

An InLinkz Link-up

We had some very generous event sponsors for this event.

THANK YOU!