Green Goddess Turkey Meatballs

Why did it take me this long to discover Green Goddess dressing?

Apparently green goddess salad dressing was a major fad of the 70's but it's just now hitting my palette. I ordered a salad with green goddess dressing on the side while on vacation the other week and couldn't believe my tastebuds when I took my first bite. Ok, restaurant level salad dressings are always bomb, but this one really intrigued me. It's not the usual option on your lengthy list of restaurant dressing options. Ranch, blue cheese, Italian, balsamic vinaigrette, honey mustard. Those sauces I know by heart, but my mind has recently been blown by this new condiment discovery.

Apparently, I am late to the game because I almost walked right into a shelf full of Trader Joe's Green Goddess dressing this morning. Is the universe trying to tell me something? I decided it was. Green goddess salad dressing sounds like something Adam and Eve dipped their carrots into in the garden of eden. However, when you look up the ingredients, I'm pretty sure God wasn't including mayonnaise and sour cream on the "eden" diet, if they weren't even allowed to touch apples. Luckily, God has granted us the delicious healthy substitute of Greek yogurt and that is exactly what I used to replicate this dressing today. You're probably wondering why I'm not supplementing this recipe with a healthy salad option, but everyone and their mom knows how to slap some greens together in a bowl. Let's make this interesting and involve meat. Since we are not heathens and using sour cream and mayo in this recipe, I decided to hop on the healthy band wagon and use ground turkey. Lately, I have been obsessed with making flavored meatballs, in the non-traditional spaghetti and meatballs sense. Check out my Buffalo Chicken meatballs for some other tasty options.

Healthy Green Goddess Dressing:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 whole avocado
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 cup parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno with seeds removed
salt and pepper to taste

Combine above ingredients in a food processor and run on medium speed until fully mixed and smooth. Remove and set aside.

Turkey Meatballs:
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup green goddess salad dressing (recipe above)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp kosher salt
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix above ingredients in a large bowl until fully combined. Roll into 1 inch diameter balls and placed on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and meatballs are golden brown.