I don’t know where to start! I grew up eating Chicken Kiev. I LOVE it! We didn’t have it all the time, as it was considered one of those “fancy dinners”. And what’s not to love about chicken, garlic, butter, and parsley?!?! I hadn’t thought about it in years…until…I had a dream  that I made little meatballs out of them which got me on the Rachael Ray show! It was the best dream, EVER! Of course, I woke up and realized it was only a dream…however, that didn’t stop me from trying to come up with a recipe and make them! I am so, so proud of this one! Totally took me back to my childhood. I called my mom to tell her. Understandably so, she wants me to make them for her. I cannot wait for her and YOU ALL to try these too!

 -Tammy

Health tips: kid-friendly, kidney-friendly, diabetes friendly

Ingredients (makes about 24 meatballs)

For the Meatballs:

• 2 lbs. ground chicken breast
• 1 tsp salt (omit if you have kidney disease)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs (use whole wheat if you can find them)
• 2 egg whites

For the Filling:

• 1 stick of butter (unsalted if you have kidney disease)
•  2 garlic cloves
• 2 TBS fresh flat leaf Italian parsley

For the Breading:

• 1/4 c. panko bread crumbs (use whole wheat if you can find them)
• 1/4 c. regular bread crumbs (or make your own using whole wheat bread)
• 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 TBS fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 2 TBS Parmesan cheese
• olive oil spray

Steps:

Before I begin, I have to give you my spiel about our grocery store butchers! Make friends with your butcher! Get to know them! They can do great things for you! For example, when boneless, skinless chicken breast goes on sale (for $1.99 or cheaper), buy a ton of it and have your butcher “course grind” it for you! BAM! Ground chicken breast meat for $1.99 per pound! Bring it home and freeze it in 1 pound portions in plastic food storage bags. Now you will always have a lean, healthy protein option to defrost when you need! This is what I did and you should too! Okay, I’m done…proceed ;-P

1. Before you preheat your oven, make the “butter balls” that will go inside of your chicken. In a food processor, combine garlic and parsley, until chopped. Add the stick of butter and pulse until well combined. If you do not have a food processor, just finely chop your garlic and parsley and mix the garlic, parsley, and butter in a bowl. Transfer the butter to a piece of plastic wrap. Shape and roll it into a log.  Twist the plastic wrap at the ends to seal. Freeze for 15-20 minutes. Take the butter out, unwrap it and roll it into 24 mini balls. Set each ball on a plate and stick in the freezer for another 20 minutes. The butter has to be frozen inside of the chicken when you cook it.
   

   
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the breading; in a shallow bowl, mix the panko, bread crumb, granulated garlic, parsley, and parm cheese. Set aside.
3. Make the meatballs; in a bowl combine the chicken, salt and pepper, panko, and egg white. Divide meat mixture into 24 portions. Take butter balls out of the freezer. In each meat ball portion, push in 1 mini butter ball and form chicken around it, making sure it’s sealed (no butter showing). Roll each meatball in the bread crumb mixture and place on a cookie sheet. After all meatballs are formed, spray generously with olive oil spray. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. When you cut into the meatballs, the garlic-butter mixture will come spilling out. It’s divine! ENJOY!
   

   

   

   

   A special thank you to friends at browneyedbaker.com for providing me with the compound butter photo! I totally forgot to take my pictures! 🙂