Meatball Salad

You know when you hear the title of a recipe and you think, I don't know about that one? I thought that when I heard the words meatball and salad together. My two friends had raved about how yummy they were together and so I had to give it a try. It was a hit at my house. My boys exclaimed, "This is the best dinner ever. Can you make this every night?" That's a winner in my book! Give it a try. It's easy and healthy!

Meatball Salad
dressing from Food Network


Ingredients:
For meatballs:
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1 teaspoon dried basil, fresh if you have it



For Salad:
dressing
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil


Fresh spinach, lettuce, or mixture of your choice
mozzarella, fresh if you have it
tomatoes


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare baking pan. I use a cooling rack on top of a baking rack so that the grease drops off onto the pan.

In a large bowl mix together beef, oregano, onion and garlic powder, salt, pepper, egg, and basil. Combine until all ingredients are mixed. Form mixture into 1 to 1-1/2 inch meatballs. Place on prepared pan.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.

To  assemble salad, place all dressing ingredients in a container with a lid. Shake until all ingredients are combined. Place lettuce on a plate, add chopped tomatoes, mozzarella, and top with cooked meatballs. Drizzle balsamic dressing on top.