Italian Seasoned Meatballs over Veggies and Rice

I wasn’t necessarily planning on preparing a recipe to include in my blog when I whipped up this meal. All I knew is that I had some veggies in the fridge to use up and a package of frozen meatballs in the freezer, so I threw it all together with some seasoning and served it over rice. And voila! This meal was born.

 Minutes later, my family and I were eating this dish, and they couldn’t stop raving about how good it was. What really made me decide to include this here, however, was the fact that my five-year-old told me that I should, much to my surprise (I didn’t know he paid attention to such things)!

Since I originally used a package of meatballs for this meal, I decided I would try making my own before publishing this recipe, and although my family loved my first attempt, the recipe still wasn’t quite right to me. Fortunately, after some alterations and yet another meatball dinner, we all loved the end results!

Although I love all of my recipes to varying degrees, this undoubtedly is one of my favorites and will be on repeat for dinner from here on out. It’s savory, a bit tangy, and oh so good! So, without further ado, I present to you…

ITALIAN SEASONED MEATBALLS OVER VEGGIES AND RICE

Rice:

• ½ T olive oil
• 1 ½ c rice
• Italian dressing and seasoning mix
• 1 chicken bouillon cube, crushed
• 3 c water

Meatballs:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1/2 T steak seasoning
• 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 c Italian style bread crumbs
• 1 egg

Veggies:

• 2 zucchinis
• Squash
• Broccoli
• 1 ½ T olive oil
• ½ T Montreal steak seasoning
• ½ lemon, juice of

Hummus Sauce:

• ½ c hummus
• ½ lemon, juice of
• 2 T water
• 1 t garlic minced

Instructions:

To prepare the rice, heat the olive oil over the stove in a medium to large sauce pan, then add the rice and sauté. Once golden, stir in the Italian dressing and seasoning mix and the crushed bouillon cube. Once combined, add the water and cook, uncovered, on medium heat until the water begins to boil, then cover with a lid and cook on low heat for twenty minutes or until the water has evaporated and the rice is soft.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop the veggies and drizzle with oil in a mixing bowl then add the Montreal steak seasoning and combine well. Spread over a baking sheet and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Once finished cooking, drizzle the lemon juice over the veggies and mix together.

For the meatballs, mix together the beef, Italian seasoning, minced garlic, Montreal steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, and egg. Shape 2 tablespoons of beef into meatballs then cook on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Makes 16 meatballs.

Prepare the hummus sauce by mixing together the hummus, lemon juice, water, and minced garlic together.

To serve, place rice on each plate then add the veggies and meatballs and drizzle with the hummus sauce. Serves up to four plates.