This last week, the temps have started to climb and it feels entirely too much like summer.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate summer and all it has to offer.  Its just…..well….I’m not a big fan of hot weather.  Yes, I know, I live in the wrong part of the country.

When its cold, I put on a sweater and warm up.  When its hot, I can only take off a certain amount of clothing, unless I want my son to be in therapy for the rest of his life.  We have humidity too.  It adds  that “special something” to summer, so that its even better than hot…..its a sauna.

I enjoy my garden in the morning and evening when it gets like this and do my best not to heat up the kitchen.  Our grill is like a best buddy in the summer:  always ready to lend a hand when you need it.  Check out my on the grill category for ideas.  Our favorite is grilled pesto pizza in the summer, but there are plenty of others that are very tasty.

Jim already makes grilled meatballs, but I thought we would come up with a different spice palette for a bit more variety.  If you’ve read very many of my recipes, I’m all about flavor, so I made sure these would be worth having.

I used fresh chorizo and balanced all the fat that entails by mixing it with lean ground turkey.  It worked out great: all the flavor and a fat level that wouldn’t result in flareups on the grill.  Add finely diced onion, poblano peppers, and crushed garlic.  Cumin, coriander, chipotle powder and sauce make sure it has a nice kick.  Nothing like a nice sweat and a breeze to help cool you off.  Grilling lets the fat drip off and gives you a great meatball.  A great dipping sauce is your favorite salsa: or mix the salsa with yogurt or sour cream.

You’ll need:

1 med onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large poblano pepper, finely chopped

1.5 lbs ground turkey, extra lean (or extra lean bison/beef/game meat)

1.5 lbs fresh chorizo

1 tbs chipotle tabasco sauce

2 tsp chipotle powder

1 tbs cumin

1 tbs coriander

2 tsp salt

Dice onion and peppers, set aside.  Combine dry spices in a small bowl.  In a large mixing bowl, add chorizo, turkey, minced garlic, spices and tabasco sauce.  Mix by hand (wear gloves) until mixture looks fairly even.  Shape into meatballs.  Jim likes to make 2 sizes:  Two inch meatballs for eating on their own and a smaller ones for the grill basket for other meals (sandwiches, appetizers, guy snacks).

Spray  grill basket and lid with no-stick cooking spray and place smaller meatballs in basket with little or no room between them.  Attach lid.

Heat your grill or BBQ to 400 F.   Cook meatballs 7-8 minutes on each side, depending on size.  Remove and let rest for about 5 minutes.  Serve as it or with salsa dipping sauce.  Enjoy!