Let’s talk buffalo wings. They are delicious, yet fail in many aspects of a perfect food. They are messy, not attractive to eat on a date, and can rank up to 200 cals for just one! This recipe, made by Rachel Ray who is normally the queen of “this is healthy because I only used 1 cup of butter instead of lard”, is pretty low calorie and solves the above messy issues. Meet the Buffalo Chicken Meatball, ala Rachel Ray, introduced to me by Rico’s wonderful cousin.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground white meat chicken
- 1/2 small onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
I mixed this with my hands. It made me nauseous. It was cold and slimy.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken with the onion, garlic and parsley, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Flatten out the meat in the bowl and score it into four portions using the side of your hand. Shape each portion into four balls – you should have sixteen meatballs in total.
Arrange the meatballs on a nonstick sheet pan and drizzle them with EVOO. Place in the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through and golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
While the meatballs are baking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the hot sauce and whisk to combine. Toss the baked meatballs in the hot sauce to coat.
Makes 16 meatballs at around 30-40 calories each.
This leads to the great debate of accoutrements for buffalo chicken products–ranch or blue cheese dip. I dread putting out blue cheese or ranch at any party because it always finds its way all over my sink when I’m cleaning up at the end of the night. And my table. And my hands. And face. It’s crusty. I might or might not be cleaning up after these right now.
