ninja pepper & onion meatballs

I love a good meatball.  I grew up in an Italian family, my dad was always cooking up ziti, spaghetti and lasagna.  When I found out I could no longer eat gluten or dairy my first thought was "how am I going to enjoy Italian food?"  But since getting in the kitchen and whipping up recipes, the niche I've found is taking comfort foods and making them healthy and nutritious.  So much of what we ate as kids was empty calories and artificial ingredients.  These meatballs are purely high quality meat, organic veggies and gluten-free oats. Serve hot with your favorite gluten-free italian dish or by themselves with a side salad like I do for lunch.


Ingredients:
1 Lb. Grass-fed beef or lean ground turkey (I always use turkey for these)
1 large organic sweet white onion
1 large organic green bell pepper
1 large organic red bell pepper
1/2 cup gluten free oats (though I tolerate gf oats, omit for paleo, grain-free  & whole 30)
1 TBSP fresh garlic
1 TBSP chopped basil
Sea Salt
Drizzle of Olive Oil 

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray all twelve cups in a muffin pan with olive oil spray.  Set aside.  In your Ninja or Vitamix blender add in all ingredients, adding the meat first.  Blend until vegetables are chopped and the mixture is well mixed.  Spoon out meatball mixture and form medium-large size meatballs and place in greased muffin tin by hand (they should almost fit the muffin cup entirely).  Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked throughout. Serve hot and enjoy! 

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