Such a tease

After months of potatoes, onions and apples, the Union Square Greenmarket is starting to show signs of life. Although spring officially started over two weeks ago, the temperature has been hovering around the mid-40’s (warmer days being ruined by rain). But Saturday was different. It was 55 degrees F and gorgeously sunny. To top it off, I finished radiation on Friday. Good times all around.

How refreshing to see colors again! Tulips, cherry blossoms, daffodils, fresh herbs. It was almost a bit overwhelming – although that may be more to do with the market changing to the south side of the park rather than the normal north end (construction). Eric and I came home with two azalea plants, daisies in a rainbow of colors, and a bunch of fresh herbs – dill, Italian parsley, thyme, sage and rosemary.

Eric spent the day gardening (if you can call it that considering our “garden” consists of various pots and window boxes on a 15th floor balcony). I toiled a few hours away in the pottery studio, but took a snack break – eating my favorite tacos – in a park wearing short sleeves. Spring had finally arrived!

After watching lots of basketball (Nice win, Kansas! After six years of being with a guy who went to NC State, I’ve developed an irrational bias against the Tar Heels), I went to bed thinking about all of the fun things that I would do in the sunshine the following day. On Sundays, I usually give a friend cooking lessons in the morning and have pottery class at night, but that still leaves a good five-hour chunk of time to enjoy the warmth and sun.

So imagine my shock and dismay when I woke up the next day and it was cold and grey. Of course, I actually do check the weather every day, but amazingly, it never quite sinks in (e.g. the other day, I checked weather.com and heard on WNYC that it was going to rain in the afternoon, yet I still went to work without an umbrella, which of course, meant that I got drenched walking home). Instead of walking around Central Park, I ended up watching Scooby Doo reruns and Lord of the Rings.

While I realize that NYC is one of the worst places to spend summer if you don’t have a house on the shore or in the Hamptons – endless months of disgustingly humid days of smelling rotting garbage and urine – I love those first few days of spring (yes, I realized that is probably the most clichéd thing I could say but it’s true). Unfortunately, Saturday was just a tease…it’s been back in the 40’s the past few days.

And since it’s still chilly out, hearty foods are still in order. Hearty but light. A contradiction, you think? Well, give these turkey-quinoa meatballs a try. With quinoa, ricotta and spinach, these meatballs are moist, tender and healthy - a healthiness that I immediately offset with Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce (delicious, but made with five tablespoons of butter). But feel free to eat these with something a bit healthier.

Turkey-Quinoa Meatballs
From the pictures, you can see that the meatballs are fairly light – because of the ground turkey breast. There’s spinach throughout the meatball as well as little reddish-brown specks, which is the red quinoa. The quinoa adds a great textural contrast but for those who may not like little reddish-brown specks, feel free to use regular quinoa instead.

1 medium onion – small dice
4 garlic cloves – minced
1 ½ pounds ground turkey breast
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 package frozen chopped spinach – thawed and drained
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more for pans)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and fragrant. Add garlic and continue to cook, until fragrant. Remove from heat and place onions and garlic in large mixing bowl.

Add all remaining ingredients to bowl and mix with hands (just until the ingredients come together – try not to overmix). Test for seasoning by making a small patty and cooking in a sauté pan. When cooked through, taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

Lightly oil sheet pan. Using your hands, form mixture into 2-inch balls and place evenly on sheet pan. When all meatballs are formed, drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place in oven and roast for 18 – 20 minutes (depending on your oven).

Serve with favorite tomato sauce.

Makes approximately 20-25 meatballs.