I have the privilege of sharing a recipe today on Diane Eblin's wonderful blog, "The W.H.O.L.E. Gang." Diane's blog is an incredible resource of healthy, organic, naturally gluten free recipes. I love Diane's simple approach to good, healthy eating.Diane has spent the entire month of May sharing recipes from over 20 thoughtful food bloggers who believe in eating REAL food. Driven to action by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Diane decided to share her own Food Revolution on The WHOLE Gang. Since Diane began her 30 day campaign at the beginning of May 20+ bloggers have jumped in and shared their best recipes and tips for healthy eating.
My recipe today is simple, basic, and one of my husband's favorite. A very easy fresh marinara sauce with homemade meatballs made from local, grass-fed ground beef.
Fresh Marinara Sauce
Created by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Free of Gluten, Soy, Corn, & Casein.
4-5 fresh medium sized organic tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 sweet onion, roughly chopped
6-8 leaves fresh sweet basil
4-5 leaves fresh oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon honey (optional)
Directions:
In your high-powered blender add tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, and oregano. Blend until very smooth (the sauce will look very pink at this point! No worries!). Heat olive oil in a medium sized saucepan. Carefully add pureed marinara sauce to olive oil. Cook on med-high heat for 15-20 minutes until the sauce cooks down slightly and turns red. Ideally you could cook this sauce for several hours on low heat if you wanted a full flavored sauce and had the time to cook it. But for a quick meal simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes. Right before serving stir in freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Add a teaspoon of honey if you like your sauce to have a tiny bit of sweetness. Serve sauce immediately over cooked gluten free pasta, rice, potatoes, etc…
Quick & Easy Homemade Meatballs
Created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
Free of Gluten, Soy, Corn, & Casein.
1 pound local, grass-fed ground beef -or- ground sirloin
3/4 cup gluten free rolled oats, pulverized in your blender
3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 egg
1 teaspoon garlic granules or a minced garlic clove
1 dash Greek seasoning (or your favorite gluten free seasoning mix)
pinch sea salt & ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
In a large bowl mix ground beef with pulverized gluten free oats and ground flax seeds. Mix in egg and the remaining seasonings. Rolls ground beef into small meat balls about 1″ in diameter. We usually get about 18-20 meatballs out of this recipe. Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed (or non-stick) skillet. Add meatballs to hot skillet. Cook meatballs for several minutes on each side to let them brown evenly and cook through. Serve meatballs over gluten free pasta, rice, or potatoes and cover them with freshly made marinara sauce! Enjoy!
Carrie's Notes:
- These meatballs & the marinara sauce freeze beautifully. If you have time to make several batches of each recipe, you’d have a really quick, easy, & healthy meal stored away in your freezer.
- If you use ground sirloin for the meatballs (as we do) they will be extremely lean and may stick to the pan unless you add additional oil or use a non-stick or very well seasoned cast-iron skillet.
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To read more about my tips & hints on eating more REAL food, please visit The W.H.O.L.E. Gang!
