Greek Style Turkey Meatballs (in a pita)

Tonight, I was inspired both by a turkey burger recipe I saw on the food network AND my kids love affair with meatballs. As I have said before, it's something about the fun factor, I guess, or maybe the endless ways you can spice them up. In any case, this was a big hit with the little guys and Dan and I really enjoyed it too. I made the meatballs only for the kids and gave them cut up raw carrots as a side. I am sure they would have loved the pita too, but they couldn't take their focus off the meatballs. I thought they'd love the yogurt sauce, but they didn't really dig it. It might have been the raw garlic, which was a bit strong for a kid's taste. We liked it a lot though and for ourselves, we put the meatballs on to warmed whole wheat pitas with the yogurt sauce. We dipped raw carrots and some cut up cucumbers on the side, but next time I'd slice the cucumber thin and julienne the carrots and add them right to the pita. As always with meat balls, these could definitely be done with ground beef or even lamb, but I was staying healthy tonight with the turkey.

Greek Style Turkey Meatballs (in a pita)

Timing - about 15 minutes to prep and 15 to cook

Ingredients
Meatballs:
1 1/3 lb ground turkey
2 T ketchup
2 t Worcestershire sauce
2 t dry oregano
1 t cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
Olive oil for frying (about 2 T)

Yogurt Sauce:
1 small container plain Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T grated cucumber
half of a lemon, squeezed (about 1 T)
1 t salt

Pita, carrots and cucumber for serving

How to Make
Make the yogurt sauce first to allow the flavors to combine. You can even make it a few hours ahead. Combine all of the ingredients and then keep the sauce in the refrigerator until ready to use. This is also a great dip for other raw veggies!

Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Don't over mix or the meatballs will get tough. Roll the meatballs into about walnut size round shapes. Note that there are no breadcrumbs, so they will be a little bit sticky when you roll. Meanwhile, heat a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the pan is hot, add the oil and let it get very hot. Add the meatballs and cook, without moving until one side is golden brown. It's important to leave a little space between the meatballs to get them to brown, so if your pan isn't large enough, do the meatballs in two batches. Turn the meatballs gently to brown each side. The whole process will take about 1o minutes. Finish the meatballs in the oven until the center is no longer pink. This took me about another 8 minutes.

Serve the meatballs stuffed inside warmed whole-wheat pitas with the yogurt sauce and vegetables.

Serves 4