My life’s been hectic as of the last three weeks. Tons of things have changed. For starters I’ve quit my job! (I would love to insert those whatsapp monkey emojis here) And then my sister got married! (Clapping hands emoji?) Ok I’ll stop with the emojis in lieu of actually describing stuff. The wedding was awesome but it took about two full weeks of my life in which I did nothing that wasn’t related to the event. Between helping out with the invitations, organizing a junk food/pastry buffet table, and managing to survive bridezilla and my mom fighting 20/7 and the ensuing roller-coaster of emotions, I’ve hardly had time to deal with my professional life. Let alone cook! But I’m a full time freelance designer again… and that means that while I find my footing again  I can get back in the kitchen as often as I please. (And as you all know full well, baking cookies pleases me a lot. And so do brownies and nutella and bread). But I’ll get back on the horse with a quite healthy recipe which looks like a lot of trouble but actually isn’t! And which tastes like you’re having something super rich but is actually quite light! It’s meatballs, over quinoa, over zucchini, covered in a yogurt-kale sauce. (I know, quite the hipster combo of ingredients. Just don’t go drinking beer along with it). While the yogurt-meatball combo doesn’t sound so appealing, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it! They actually compliment each other incredibly well, turning usually heavy meatballs into something way lighter. Interested? Read more for the recipe!

Quinoa and meatballs with yogurt-kale sauce
(Own recipe)

Serves 4-5

2 cups cooked quinoa (I used black but you can use your favorite!)
2-3 zucchinis, cut into 1 cm thick sticks

For the meatballs:
500 grs minced meat
3 tbsp very finely chopped onion
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 egg
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt

Vegetable oil for frying

For the sauce
1 1/2 cups very finely chopped kale
3/4 cups light vegetable stock
2 cups regular yogurt
1 tsp dijon mustard

Directions
Make the meatballs: mix together all the meatballs ingredients using a fork to even the mixture out. Using your hands, roll into 3-4 cm balls. Using a large shallow pan on med-high heat with 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil, fry them until browned on all sides, turning as necessary. Transfer to a plate and reserve.
In the same pan you just used, add another tbsp oil and toss the kale in. Quickly sauteé for about a minute, until wilted and shiny. Add the vegetable stock and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5-8 minutes like this.
Meanwhile, sautée the zucchinis sticks in a high-heat pan with as little oil as possible. Place a bed of the sticks on a plate, cover with a layer of quinoa and place three to four meatball on top.
Go back to the sauce, add the tsp mustard and the yogurt and whisk energetically. Turn off heat and season to taste. (You shouldn’t really need to adjust because you reduced the stock while simmering, but check just in case). Cover the meatball with a ladleful of the sauce and enjoy!