Slimmercook

This is not from the Rosemary Conley book but it’s a dish I make regularly as it’s one of Son’s favourites, so I’ve worked out the calories. If you make it without avgholemono sauce the calorie count is not too high, around 70 calories per meatball with a little of the soup, so you can have four for lunch or five for dinner plus a small salad for dinner.
500g lean beef mince
1 cup white rice
1 onion, finely chopped
parsley or dill fronds, finely chopped
salt & pepper
Start by putting 2L water on to boil in the largest-bottomed saucepan you have (or a deep frying pan with lid)–the idea is for the meat balls to cook in a single layer.
Chop onion and herbs, ombine all the ingredients in a large bowl, mix with your hands until well mixed. Then shape walnut-sized lumps by rolling between your palms until they are a neat sphere, drop gently into the water, which should be quite warm by now. Continue until you’ve used up all the mixture, taking care to leave a little space between balls. It should make approximately 24 meat-rice balls for the calorie count above. Cover with a lid, just bring to a boil, then simmer gently over low heat (too high and they may bump around too much and break apart) until very soft, about 45′. These are traditionally served with avgholemono sauce, which would add around 40 calories per portion assuming you make it with two eggs, two lemons and the above makes five portions. I haven’t worked out the fat count but the beef, even if lean, is already quite fatty so I usually skip the eggs and Husband just adds a good squeeze of lemon juice to his plate. Please feel free to ask me if you need the avgholemono recipe.