Chicken Ginger Scallion Meatballs and Brown Rice Edamame Risotto

Chicken Ginger Scallion Meatballs and Brown Rice Edamame Risotto

I have made these meatballs a few times and love them. I first saw this recipe in the 2008 December issue of Real Simple. Real Simple always makes me think...remember when life was fake and complicated instead of real and simple? Anyway, these meatballs are really simple to make, with just a few ingredients, but they have some really complex flavors. I usually make them with some brown rice and edamame, but I decided to kick it up a notch and make the rice into a risotto. I thought a simple Parmesan based risotto with edamame mixed in would be a really delightful match for the meatballs. Since I had never made this dish in this way, it took a bit of figuring out to time manage it all. You may have noticed I often have process it all. So, I decided to assemble the meatball first, refrigerate them while I made the risotto. Risotto usually takes about 25 minutes to make, but since I made it with brown rice instead of Arborio rice (which is what is normally used) my cook time was doubled at minimum. Also, risotto usually cooks with out a cover so the liquid can evaporate, but with the brown rice, I needed to cover it for most of the time to allow the rice to absorb the liquid to cook. 

Chicken Ginger Scallion meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 package/1 lb ground chicken
• 2 green onions or scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (frozen)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Edamame risotto

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups brown rice (arborio rice)
• 1 cup  white wine (I actually had some left over muscatto in the fridge, it added a nice sweetness)
• 4 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable/chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups shelled edamame, thawed
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• kosher salt and pepper

As always, before you start, prep everything. Chop the green onions, the white onion, garlic, and grate the ginger. Again, I freeze the ginger, peeled in small sections. It makes it MUCH easier to grate and it will thaw when you mix it in with other stuff. Also, it doesn’t loose as much “ginger juice.” 

 

Once everything is all prepped, you can start assembling the meatballs. Combine the chicken, ginger, green onions, salt, and pepper in a bowl. 

Shape into meatballs, it should make about 12-16 meatballs. Once all shaped, put the meatballs in the fridge while you start making the risotto. 

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 4 minutes, or until translucent. Don’t let the onions brown or you will change the delicate flavor. Add the garlic and combine. I usually add a dash of sugar to encourage the onions to sweat a little. I usually add some pepper to allow those flavors to combine. I don’t add salt because there is going to be enough salt added with the broth. 

Add onions and cook until translucent

Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for at least 2 minutes. Because I used brown rice, I browned the rice a bit longer, about 10 minutes, to make sure that it started to cook through.

Cook the rice until it is browned a bit; don't let the onions brown

Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed. This should take about 10 minutes. 

Stir in the wine. Bring it to a boil and then turn the heat down.

 Stir in the broth, in 3 sections.  Wait until each addition of broth is absorbed before adding the next, and cook, stirring occasionally. You should cover for about 7 minutes, then take the cover off, and repeat. It should take about 25 – 30 minutes for all the broth to be absorbed.

 

 

At this point, you will probably have realized that the rice is not cooked all the way through, add water to cover the rice, cover and allow the liquid to simmer. Turn down the heat and make sure the rice cooks all the way through. 

The rice is probably not cooked all the way through,
add more liquid, and cover.

Add more liquid, so all rice is submerged.
Bring to a boil, cover, and turn down the heat.

When the risotto is about 20 minutes away from being done, probably about this time, add some olive oil to a skillet and warm. Add half of the chicken meatballs and cook through, turning frequently, about 10 – 12 minutes. Place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up any extra oil from the simmer. 

Once all the liquid is cooked down and the rice is cooked thoroughly. Add the edamame and the parmesan and stir. 

The edamame should be frozen, but they will cook enough in the risotto
where they will still have a bit of a crunch. It is a nice texture.

Add Parmesan, stir, and cover.

Cook the meatballs in two shifts, until browned. Check the insides to make sure that the balls are cooked through. 

Once the meatballs are all cooked, wipe the pan and cook the sauce to top the meatballs. The sauce is low sodium soy sauce and brown sugar. Heat in the pan, whisking until it thickens, about 2 – 3 minutes. 

I use a low sodium soy sauce and organic dark brown sugar.

Whisk sauce until thick.

Dish out the risotto, the meatballs, and add the sauce. Enjoy!

 You will have leftovers, put them away, and take them to work tomorrow.