The running joke in my family is it just doesn't feel like a meal unless the doorbell rings first. Take out and delivery was a huge part of my life growing up, and was just the normal thing to do. The sad part is, when I moved out on my own and wanted to cook more, I found it was actually cheaper to just grab a plate of something from some restaurant, than to go to the supermarket and buy all fresh stuff. Of course it was only me at the time, and take out places were on every block, so there was nothing special qualifying them to bump up their prices.
Times have changed however, and now that I'm raising a family, take out is a rare luxury. No longer is my life situated in the center of take out heaven either. Learning how to cook wasn't easy in the beginning, and just as I got pretty good at recreating some of my take out favorites, I started following the Atkins plan, and being a dedicated Low-Carber, there goes that! Or so I thought...
I came across this recipe for General Tso's Meatballs and could not pass them up. I wasn't too sure about the idea of a chicken meatball at first, but I'm so glad I didn't let it deter me. These are fantastic! The only change I made was to the sauce. I thought I had rice wine vinegar in the pantry, but with a whole plate of gorgeous meatballs waiting for sauce, I found I was all out. So, I had to improvise a little. In some of my other stir fry sauces, I've used cooking Sherry, and I happened to have some, so I gave it a whirl. It's a bit strong, so I used only 2 1/2 Tbsp instead of the 3 Tbsp of rice wine vinegar. It worked out great!
These tasty meatballs crisp up beautifully if you let them fry undisturbed for a few minutes before turning. For my picture, I put just enough sauce so you could see it, along with the gorgeous texture of the meatball. After I took the pic, I gave it another generous dousing of sauce. They also passed the leftover challenge- they taste fantastic the next morning, just like any great take out should.
For this fabulous recipe, please click here: I Breathe, I'm Hungry - General Tso's Meatballs. Enjoy!
Labels: almond flour, chicken, main dish, spicy
