Ok, first of all, y’all are WAY too nice and are going to give me an ego with your overflow of nice comments yesterday on my jumpsuit situation. I actually felt like that post was way narcissistic after I published it, so thanks for not being like “um, no one cares about what you wore this weekend.”  Even if that’s what you did think, thanks for not verbalizing it.  I realize I’m perpetuating the misconception that I think I am hot sh*t, because let me assure you, half the time I feel like a bumpkin trying to play dress up.  And for those of you who do care about my fashion musings, the jumpsuit is Laundry by Shelli Segal and I got it at TJ Maxx.  Here’s a similar one.

Back to today’s regularly scheduled programming….

Why do I insist on buying those sad little basil plants in the grocery store?  I know damn well as soon as I get them home, they’re going to com sui and I’ll be in a frantic race to use the entire thing before it’s a complete wilted mess on my counter top by the end of the week.  Yet I can’t help but think this time will be different!  Me and this little basil plant will march hand-in-hand into the sunset and it will never leave me!

False.

But at least this time I came up with a new way to use up those fragrant little leaves in the nick of time.

Balls, duh.  But not just any balls, my friends.  These balls are cut with lentils to make them even more nutritiony (yep, that’s a word) and freshly chopped basil to add tons of flavor.  Oh yeah, and they’re stuffed with mozzarella cheese.  Why?  Because why wouldn’t you stuff balls with cheese?

Mozzarella-Stuffed Pesto Meatballs
Total time:  About 40 minutes
Makes about 12 medium-sized meatballs
You’ll Need:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 cup brown lentils, cooked*
8-10 basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 medium onion, grated (over the mixing bowl to capture juices)
1 tsp. garlic
1 egg
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Favorite sauce for serving

Directions:   Preheat oven to 375.  In a blender or food processor, chop lentils and then chop walnuts.  Mix everything from the ground turkey to the breadcrumbs together in a large mixing bowl until blended.  Then start rolling into golf-ball sized balls, making a small indent with your thumb to fill with mozzarella and then roll until cheese is covered.  On a baking sheet covered in parchment paper, spray with a small coating of cooking spray and place balls about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and cooked throughout.  Cool for about 5 minutes.  Serve with favorite sauce or on top of pasta.

*If you don’t want to use lentils, just add another 1/2 pound of ground turkey.

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These were fan-freaking-tastic.  I wasn’t really sure how the mixture of walnuts and basil and lentils were all going to pan out, but let me tell you, these are officially in the rotation.  Plus since they only take about 30-40 minutes to make, so Jess likee.

I’m also on kind of a lower-carb kick right now and it’s nice to find something filling and not completely green in color that grew from the earth.  So even if these don’t help me justify another Victoria’s Secret bikini to add into the rotation of “things I’m never going to actually wear”, at least they left me satisfied.