One of the things I love about these meatballs is that almost everything can be done ahead of time.  In fact, the longer the ground meat hangs out with the seasonings, the better they taste.  And the same goes for the Cacik.  Plus, these meatballs are the perfect opportunity to sneak some organ meat into a meal without really noticing it.  The meatballs are fairly heavily seasoned so the liver flavor is very well masked.  I buy whole liver and grind it up at home in my Magic Bullet (you could also use a Food Processor or Meat Grinder, ask your butcher to grind it for you, or chop it up manually).  It does make for a slightly looser meat mix (at least using a blender, which basically liquefies the liver), which is why flax meal works so well as a binder here.  If you opt to use all ground beef or chop your liver my hand, I suggest cutting the flax meal in half (or use an egg instead, but only add the egg right before baking).

Cacik (pronounced “JAH-Jik”) is a traditional Turkish dish made with plain yogurt, cucumber and mint.  It can come in a variety of consistencies, from thick and dip-like to thinned to soup consistency.  It is sometimes made with large pieces of cucumber and served like a salad and sometimes made with finely diced or pureed cucumber and served like a dip or soup.  I love it as a side salad, which really is the perfect flavor to go with these meatballs.  I use my own homemade coconut milk kefir “yogurt”.  You can also purchase coconut milk yogurt (So Delicious makes one, available at Whole Foods) but check the ingredients as brown rice starch is a common thickening agent used.

Ingredients (Meatballs):

• 2 pounds ground meat (I use 1 pound of ground grass-fed beef and 1 pound of grass-fed liver, which I blend in a blender)
• ¾ cups fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin Seed
• 1 ½ tsp Chili Powder
• ¾ tsp Salt, to taste
• 1 tsp Paprika
• ½ tsp ground Pepper
• 1 cup Flaxseed Meal
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1-2 Tbsp tallow or extra virgin coconut oil

1.     Mix ground meat and seasonings (everything except the onion and the flax) in a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours.
2.    Heat tallow or coconut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add diced onion and cook until soft and starting to caramelize.  Remove from heat and let cool.
3.    Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4.    Mix cooled onion and flaxseed meal into the meat mix.  Form meatballs with your hand (whatever size you like, I usually make 2” meatballs because it’s less work) and place on prepared baking sheet.
5.    Bake for 15-20 minutes (15 minutes for 1” meatballs, 20 minutes for 2” meatballs, or until internal temperature reaches 160F).  Enjoy!

Ingredients (Cacik):

• 1 ½ large English cucumbers
• 1 cup coconut milk yogurt
• 1-2 tsp Salt
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 Tbsp mint, finely chopped
• 2-3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to taste

1.    Slice cucumber very thinly (I slice 1/8” thick using my Mandoline Slicer).  Place cucumber in a colander and toss with salt.  Let drain in the sink for 1-3 hours.
2.    Rinse cucumber thoroughly and either let sit another hour to drain the water or dry using clean tea towels or paper towel.
3.    Mix cucumber, crushed garlic, chopped mint, and coconut milk yogurt.  Cover and refrigerate 1-8 hours.
4.    Just before serving, stir in olive oil.  Serve with meatballs!

RECIPE UPDATE:  I’ve taken to using 2-4 Tbsp of arrowroot powder as a binder for the meatball mix instead of flax seed.  I think it works equally well as a binder, without having the phytoestrogen problem that flaxseed has.

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