No TIME? No problem
Monday, June 21, 2010 at 12:53PM Share Article
No matter how much we love to cook (or don’t), we all have one very nasty nemesis who is hell bent on keeping us out of the kitchen. This is one MacDaddy of a bad guy. You know who I’m talkin about, right? Yeah. That’s right….NOTIME!!
I mean how MANY god-forsaken moments have you said “Oh, I so want to make that, but I have NOTIME”. Or, I was going to make (fill in the blank), but I had NOTIME! Or “That looks so good, but I have NOTIME to cook like that”.
We have all had a seat in this boat.
So what to do?? How to dispel this ogre from our midst and get back in the kitchen? The truth is, it’s not that easy. Life is hard. We’re busy. Often, there really is NOTIME, and that really makes us feel like not cooking. Sometimes it makes us actually hate cooking.
Oh, NOTIME can be a cruel master. The tyranny of the urgent. But we are smart. We are wily when we want to be. We can fight back! And how do we fight back, you ask?
MEATBALLS! We make meatballs. We make meatballs that taste really good, but only take 5 minutes. Meatballs are only the beginning, but they are a very good start.
These are no ordinary meatballs…these are porcupine meatballs, and they were invented back in the 1950’s when I was a kid and my Mom was working and she had NOTIME. I made these for my kids when I had NOTIME and they loved them. Still do. Porcupine meatballs were actually originally invented by the Campbell’s Soup Co. as a weapon against NOTIME. All you needed were three things…a can of tomato soup, ground meat and rice.
I have updated this meatball to be even tastier, but still possess the speed and agility of a great NOTIME weapon. Here’s what you’ll need….
...you'll need that and a lb of ground meat (I use ground turkey) and 1/2 cup of
And it has to be Uncle Ben's cuz it's parboiled and converted and whatever that means, it makes the rice cook better in the meatballs. As in faster. Did you know that converted rice is actually a little more nutritious than regular white rice? Just found that out.
So you pour your beautiful organic soup in a large skillet, and while that's heating, grab your pound of ground meat (I use ground turkey. I think I said that already). Mix it with 1/2 cup of U.B. rice and a little salt and pepper. I add some chopped onion cuz I like to. Form your meatballs and drop them in the soup. Simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let them sit another ten minutes or so and the rice will swell and your meatballs will take on their porcupine-ness. To serve, just spoon that luscious sauce over the meatballs. You will lick your plate. I promise.
Porcupine meatballs go really well with leftover mashed potatoes and a little green salad.
My work here is done. Go forth and cook! What you do with all that extra time is up to you.
Reader Comments (2)
I haven't had porcupine meatballs in forever! I love how quick and easy your recipe is.
always looking for quick easy and new ideas for dinner ....you had me at "you will lick your plate" LOL! love your blog, thankyou for sharing this recipe i am going to have to try these!