Healthy Spaghetti & Meatballs

Packed with Hidden Vegetables

Servings: 4-6 | Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins

How to cook awesome, healthy spaghetti and meatballs with a hidden serving of vegetables. Mother always said, eat your veggies. Now you can have delicious spaghetti and meatballs with vegetables built in. No more fighting with the kids (or hubby, for that matter) to eat their veggies. Our trick? Pack the meatballs with grated carrots and zucchini. Aside from being healthy, carrots add natural sweetness while zucchini adds great texture. We're also blending into the tomato sauce some turnip greens and roasted red bell peppers. Red bell peppers add great natural sweetness to the sauce and blends right in since it's also red. There are no hard and fast rules here. If you can't find turnip greens, use collard greens or spinach instead. Healthy leafy green vegetables are our preferred secret addition, but use whatever vegetables you want your kids to eat without having to make side dishes that they can ignore.

For healthier meatballs, we use whole wheat bread crumbs (an excellent source of dietary fiber), which is surprisingly hard to find at some grocery stores. In our search, we found a great product from Whole Foods in their signature 365™ Everyday Value brand. It contains 3 grams of dietary fiber per 1/4 cup serving size, a commendable amount. But if you're unable to find it, you can certainly use enriched regular plain bread crumbs instead.

Whole Foods 365™ Everyday Value whole wheat bread crumbs. Ingredients: Enriched whole wheat flour (whole wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, dried yeast. (Net Wt. 15 oz)

This is an easy one dish meal complete with meat, veggies, and carbs. A great recipe during weekdays for a stress-free uncomplicated meal. Whole wheat pasta is definitely more healthy, but it can be hard to get all your family members to eat whole wheat pasta. So we're using enriched spaghetti noodles with added fiber that looks and tastes like regular spaghetti. Look for the word "enriched" and check the nutrition facts for a decent amount of added dietary fiber. Ours had 2 grams of dietary fiber per 2 ounce serving. Your family need not know.

We don't like drenching our spaghetti in sauce, so we'll keep the spaghetti separate and everyone can dress their own noodles with as much or as little sauce as they like. Even in the same household, everyone has their own preference. Here, an easy recipe for some healthy wholesome spaghetti goodness.

Meatballs
• 1 1/2 lb ground beef, 80% lean
• 2 large carrots, coarsely grated
• 1 zucchini, coarsely grated
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs, scrambled
• 1/4 cup crushed tomatoes, from can below
• 1/4 cup parmigianno-reggiano cheese, grated
• 1 TBSP minced garlic
• 1/2 TBSP salt
• 1 tsp black pepper, ground
• 1/2 tsp oregano, dried

Tomato-Based Spaghetti Sauce
• 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes w/ juice
• 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 red bell peppers, roasted/ sweated/ peeled
• 2 cups frozen chopped turnip or collard greens
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 TBSP minced garlic
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 tsp oregano, dried
• 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Pasta
• 1 pack spaghetti noodles, 16oz, enriched
• water (to boil)
• salt (optional)
• 2 TBSP cold butter

Garnish
• parmigianno-reggiano cheese, grated
• parsley, chopped
• crushed red pepper flakes

Boil water for spaghetti noodles and cook according to package instructions. Add salt if desired. When done, drain noodles in colander (do not rinse) and add cold butter while noodles are still hot. Toss to distribute and melt butter. Adds flavor to the spaghetti and prevents clumping. Set aside.
In the meantime, make the meatballs. Mix all ingredients for the meatballs, working quickly. Do not overwork the mixture or you'll get compact meatballs. Form 1.5" round meatballs, rolling them evenly between the palms of your hands. Makes about 20 meatballs. Set aside.
To make the tomato sauce, heat a large skillet on the stove. Add extra virgin olive oil, onion and garlic. Saute until translucent and slightly golden, roughly 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine canned whole tomatoes with roasted red bell peppers (seeds and stems removed), turnip greens, and Italian parsley. Pulse just until blended to a medium texture with no large chunks.
When onion and garlic are ready, add into skillet the blended tomato puree, can of crushed tomatoes, sugar, and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Heat to simmer, then turn heat down to medium low.
Now nestle the meatballs into the sauce, arranging them in a single layer. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. Flip meatballs. Simmer covered for another 10 minutes.
Place swirls of spaghetti noodles on a plate topped with healthy tomato sauce and meatballs. Spaghetti and meatballs or meatballs and spaghetti? You choose. Serve hot with grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, chopped parsley, and crushed red pepper on the side. Enjoy!