Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs

This is a regular conversation for us. Is it for you, too?

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" I say to Don.

Silence.

"What are you in the mood for?" I ask.

Silence.

"I haven't planned anything." I add.

Don is relaxing in the car on our way home from Napa. The seat is in the recline position. His eyes are closed. He's trying to catch a quick nap. And I'm bugging him about dinner.

Hey, it's my job to think about what we're going to eat. Because I need to start making dinner the minute we get home. Elli is always starving. And I usually am too.

"I bought chicken teriyaki meatballs at Costco on Saturday." he says.

"Perfect. I'll make rice. We'll have meatballs and rice." I respond.

Phew. I thought for a minute I might be making pancakes for dinner. An okay choice in Elli's opinion but considered a dinner cop-out to Don. Breakfast for dinner has been sounding better and better to me. I even made eggs benedict recently with home-made hollandaise sauce. (And I wonder why I'm getting a little chubby.)

When we got home I looked at the bag of meatballs. Hmmm. They are going to need a sauce or something. No sauce packet in the box and no recipe either. Ehhhh. I decide to check their website.

Why can't I be one of the cooks on Top Chef that just open the pantry, grab some ingredients, and whip up a delicious sauce like in the quick fire challenges?

Oh yeah, I'm not a chef. I'm just obsessed with watching them on TV. I'm watching Iron Chef as I type this. Maybe I'll be a chef in my next life. That would be cool.

Back to the meatballs. I found a super simple stir fry sauce on the Aidell's site. Of course I have no vegetables other than a few baby carrots and some celery to stir fry with the meatballs. Who cares. It will be yummy anyway. And it was. Oh, and did I mention quick. The meatballs are done in less than 10 minutes. Now we're talking.

Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs
(adapted from Aidell's)

1 bag of Aidell's Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 T sugar
1/2 t. fresh ginger finely diced
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic finely diced
1 lb vegetables sliced (carrots, celery, broccoli, green beans, snow peas, red or green peppers)
1 t. cornstarch mixed with 2 t. water

1. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and ginger.
2. Place the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add meatballs. Saute for 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes.
4. Add the vegetables, pour in the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 3-5 minutes until vegetables are tender.
6. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and bring the sauce back to a boil for 1-2 minutes to thicken the sauce.
7. Serve over rice or noodles.

Enjoy!