It's all Greek to me

This coming Friday I will be waking up at the butt-crack of dawn to fly to Louisville, Kentucky -- my second favorite city right after Chicago -- to see one of my best friends play in her senior tennis game. My flight has been booked for months, the original plans have been in the works for even longer, and my excitement has been mounting like a particularly vicious sneeze. To add to all of this, I just found out that most of my best friends from high school will be joining me in the 'Ville to support our friend. I honestly thought I might puke with excitement when I found out.

Unlike a lot of people I know, I stayed best friends with my "group" from high school through college. Which was partly my group from middle school. Which had a few people from my elementary school. Do you catch my drift? I've known these girls a long ass time. I could drive to any of their houses with my eyes closed, find all the good snacks in each of their kitchens. I even have one of their garage codes and frequently go hang out with her mom, even when she's not there.

SO I'M PRETTY MUCH LOSING MY SHIT, GUYS.

All sappy feelings aside however, my friends all happen to be a very athletic bunch. As you know, I am about the furthest thing from athletic. One is a nationally-ranked tennis player so she is just not fair to begin with. The others actually seem to enjoy exercise and one even has a six-pack which is just pretty much the rudest thing I've ever seen. Damn them.

FYI, we're going to be going out all weekend in tight, cropped clothing. And I just ate pasta for dinner every night for the past week (Passover starts next Monday, don't judge me). So I figured it might be time for something a touch lighter.

Thus, turkey meatballs. But turkey meatballs are notoriously kind of boring and flavorless. So I decided to put a Grecian spin on them. And it turns out if you dump enough oregano and lemon zest and fresh herbs into something and then smother it in a yogurt sauce and crumbled feta and chopped cucumbers, it's not so terrible.

I would probably eat dirt on a stick if you put tzatziki on it to be very brutally honest.

This is really easy to put together and while the meatballs are baking you can whip up the yogurt sauce and do all the dishes and then be done with it. I know Tommy will read this and go "yeah right" because his stance on dishes is don't do them until you're using your stats textbook as a plate. I did my dishes. And then I ate decidedly more than one serving of these apparently addictive meatballs.

Whoops.

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4 c. panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. dried mint
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c. minced white onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
Zest of one lemon

For the sauce:
1 c. greek yogurt
1 tbs. fresh dill, finely chopped
2 tbs. fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Crumbled feta and diced cucumber to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl combine all of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add the egg, onion, garlic and ground turkey and mix until everything is just integrated. Don't over-mix if you can help it.

2. Grease a rimmed baking sheet. Using your hands, make the turkey into golf-ball sized meatballs and place a few inches apart. Bake for about 18 minutes.

3. While the meatballs are baking, combine the yogurt and spices and mix well to combine.

4. When the meatballs are done, top with the sauce, crumbled feta and cucumber. Feel free to stick it in a pita too, which is what I did and it was damn delicious.