Veggie & Liver Loaded Meatballs
I had to share the recipe for these, they are super nutrient dense with hidden veggies and chicken livers and turned out so yum! This recipe is more than enough to feed 2 adults and 2 toddlers with leftovers + enough to freeze for another day!
This is another family friendly meal and can easily be mashed for spoon feeding or cut up into pieces for baby led weaning. I love this recipe because it hides the livers and veggies so well - you can be confident knowing your kids are having a pretty balanced meal even if they only eat the meatballs!
Why Livers?!
Livers are incredibly nutrient dense - they are high in so many nutrients essential for pregnancy, postpartum and early childhood years. Rich in bioavailable iron, B vitamins like B12 and folate, zinc and Vitamin A, livers are by far the best “super food” going around!
As the liver is our major detoxifying organ, it is responsible for binding and removing toxins from our body. When buying animal livers, we want to find high quality, organic sources, as organic farming practices don’t use the conventional medications, antibiotics and pesticides that mainstream farming does. This will lessen the toxin load on the animal making their livers higher quality, hence better for human consumption. Animals are usually treated better being free range and spending more time outdoors in the sun.
If you aren’t keen on fresh livers, there’s the option of using liver powders - brands I love include GelPro and Cell-Squared (not sponsored) ~ these are super high quality with the livers obtained from organic, grass fed sources of beef.
These go so well in a rich tomato sauce with pasta, or with mashed potato and greens. I love having them with roast root veg and salad leaves for a warming winter salad.
Ingredients
1 kg beef mince
200g organic chicken livers
1 carrot
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
Approx 1 cup raw pumpkin
Handful raw spinach leaves
1 egg
3 tbsp quinoa flakes
Fresh or dried herbs (I used oregano + sage)
Method
Put all veggies, herbs and quinoa flakes into a blender and blitz well.
Add to a large bowl along with the raw mince
Blitz raw chicken livers in blender and add to the bowl with the other ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
Using your hands, mix everything really well and form into balls.
Place meatballs on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 mins until browned on top and cooked through.
**Tip - don't overcooked them as they will be tough when cooled and reheated the next day.