Comments on: How Low Can You Go? Coriander Meatballs with Yogurt-Mint Sauce

By: Louisphilippe

Louisphilippe — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:32:37 +0000

Best meatball I ever cooked and eat.

Went with the changes you made, skipped the sauce and minced some garlic cloves,replaced wine with Jack daniel’s

This recipe is really cheap (about 6$ for the meat and we had enough for the three of us and 2 leftovers meal for myself.

And it was also really fast to cook !

Definitely recommend to everyone !

By: Arthi

Arthi — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:45:45 +0000

You’re sooo true about ground coriander losing its aroma soon!!! I have around half a pound of it brought back from India, and it hardly lends any aroma to my dishes.

So now I use one or 2 tablespoons where the recipe calls for half a teaspoon. Coriander has a lot of nutrients, so I guess it is good that I add more.

About peeling and smashing the garlic, it couldnt be easier. You just need to separate the garlic cloves, and smash each clove on a chopping board using the flat part of a meat knife (sharp side facing away from you).

Smash, peel away the cracked skin, throw into recipe!!!

By: EngineerMom

EngineerMom — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:57:23 +0000

Am I the only one confused by the ground coriander comment? I buy ground coriander in bulk froma local food co-op, and the flavor has always been good.

In this recipe, I would substitute cilantro for the mint – it’s a lot cheaper, and although the flavor is definitely different, I think it would be better with the meatballs than dried mint. I make a similar recipe that uses cilantro.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:55:47 +0000

I’ll give this a try w/my meat substitute and fresh garlic and mint! The mint I planted has to go somewhere…

By: Ali

Ali — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:39:50 +0000

I also bake the meatballs – but I use about 5# of meat. These store in the freezer and can be used easily for a quick, easy and inexpensive meal.

By: argus

argus — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:56:09 +0000

i’m completely against those ‘time saving’ substitutions since in simple meals its all about the quality and freshness of the ingredients.
if you skimp on the spices you just create a bland meal that isn’t worth the savings. grinding the spices is a piece of cake if you have a small coffee grinder dedicated to spices which you should have since buying whole spices is cheaper and they last longer. when you buy freshly ground spice you can expect them to keep 6 months tops if stored properly while whole spices last over 2 years (very similar to coffee).

and garlic powder is pure blasphemy in my kitchen.

and i recommend to combine coriander, cumin and some paprika, cinnamon, kardamom & black pepper for a explosion of taste. and mix in thinly sliced cucumbers in the mint sauce.

By: Bill in Houston

Bill in Houston — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:01:02 +0000

Howdy Trent!

Instead of substituting cumin for coriander, use coriander leaves, also known as cilantro (chopped fine) in your meatballs.

For your yogurt-mint sauce, add some dill and a bit of crushed garlic to create that Greek/Mediterranean staple, “tzatziki.” Takes about 30 seconds more. Incredible tasting stuff, with a little cucumber. Don’t overdo the garlic.

I bake my meatballs instead of frying them.

Lastly, a nice complement to this would be pita bread, watercress, and sliced radish. Cheap, healthy, and really tasty.

By: megan

megan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:09:12 +0000

I totally had a Breyer Man o’ War! Breyers are so beautiful…

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:40:14 +0000

For me, the issue with garlic is not that chopping or pressing it takes a long time, it’s that it is messy and smelly. A vastly superior option, in my opinion, is buying a jar of diced garlic. You can quickly measure out what you need without any mess, and it is much more flavorful than garlic powder. I have bought the toasted and organic varieties as well, which each have a slightly different flavor. All delicious.

By: c

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:16:23 +0000

Sounds like an Indian dish we make… There are a lot of Indian cooking blogs which have a lot of economical as well as tasty dishes if anyone is interested…

By: JT

JT — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:44:44 +0000

Cool post! It looked great on the table. I’ll have to give this one a try.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:51:15 +0000

I appreciate you going to the trouble of trying out these meals, however I’d like to join the chorus of people who express amazement at some of the substitutions you’ve suggested, both in this recipe and in previous posts.
Personally, the joy of cooking involves more than just saving time on the preparation, but also honouring the food and its unique flavours. Fresh garlic, fresh mint, freshly ground coriander – these are all small contributing factors that add up to a delicious whole. I don’t see how we can afford to make these kinds of sacrifices, especially when we can either grow our own garlic or mint, or use a mortar and pestle to grind our own spices, fresh (night and day, in flavour). For me, smashing a garlic clove, unpeeling it, feeling its texture and adding it to a meal is a joy – not a chore.
After reading your review of Michael Pollan’s books I went out and borrowed them from the library – insightful and life-changing. Now, having read the books, I’d also second the comment above about questioning the price of the beef, and subsequent quality – next time when I’m lucky enough to travel to the States you can be rest assured that I’d rather go without beef/chicken/pork which was industrially produced and instead choose food which was healthy, nutritious and delicious. I acknowledge that these decisions are sometimes more expensive, however with a little ingenuity, such as growing your own, and also making the decision to eat meat-free meals, I believe we can honour both ourselves, and the all-important bottom line.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:50:32 +0000

God bless you for using Fair Trade products! Perhaps you could do a feature on these products sometime?

By: B. Dots

B. Dots — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:49:09 +0000

“Second, the julienned mint leaves – meaning you’re slicing the mint leaves into thin strips – will be significant work as well”

Trent, you lost a lot of credibility with me as a cook right there- making a stack of mint leaves and cutting the stack into thin strips takes, what, a minute, tops? Significant work? I don’t think so!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:30:49 +0000

I have to agree with some of the others on garlic vs. garlic powder. They are not the same thing. I would rather spend the time mincing the garlic myself than using powder. Once you get the hang of mincing, it really doesn’t take that long to do it. A bulb of garlic you mince or chop or cut up yourself will always be the cheapest.

That’s not to say that garlic powder does not have it’s uses. I used some today as one of the spices in my fried chicken. But when a recipe depends on the caramelization or some other chemical process in the cooking of garlic (or onions) for that matter, it’s best not to substitute. You cannot caramelize powder.

You can buy dried minced garlic in the spice aisle or you can buy the jar minced garlic in the produce section, but you’re going to pay more for the convenience. To me, the end result is not worth the time saved. A garlic press is also a good idea, but you can find them much cheaper in the store than ordering from Pampered Chef.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:45:11 +0000

I don’t mean to come off sounding like a snob here, but 2.49 for beef? You know that is not organic, not grass fed, not sustainable, could be contaminated,& is loaded with hormones. I’d do without beef before I bought the cheap stuff, thereby supporting mass farming. And not to mention risking your health which costs way more to fix.
Like buying boxed macaroni & cheese – powdered chemicals real cheap, that contain many unlabeled excito-toxins perfect for ruining our children’s health.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:43:12 +0000

great timing! We grow our own mint and make our own whole milk yogurt so we’ll have to give this a try.

By: SoCalGal

SoCalGal — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:03:48 +0000

The Breyer horse in the photo totally rocks! I have a large collection of them that I collected when I was your son’s age. He has a fine eye!
Love the cooking series too. Great ideas.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:41:21 +0000

Substituting dried mint for fresh is a good idea; it retains much of its flavor when dried. However, I wouldn’t swap dried parsley for fresh – dried parsley has no flavor at all.

By: Becca

Becca — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:34:18 +0000

While I would probably go for the fresh garlic, onion and mint (despite any time saving “loses”) and I might bake the meatballs to cut down on oil use, I think this recipe sounds great, and is certainly flexible enough to meet most of our frugal, taste-related and health-related needs. As someone just starting to really cook, I really like this series, and like that you show us how to approach recipes and make them our own with an eye towards cost and taste substitutions. I only wish ground meat (of any sort!) only cost $2.49. Basic ground meat costs $4.00 in Los Angeles for low-quality offerings and about $5.00 per pound for lean beef, turkey or bison. Still, however, a cost-effective meal.