Turkey Meatball Gyros {SRC}

Each month, I just love peeking into my inbox and seeing my latest Secret Recipe Club assignment.

This month I was delighted to find Heather’s blog, Join Us, Pull up aChair.  Heather is a mom who loves to let her daughter help out in the kitchen.  She says her daughter is much more willing to eat foods she helped prepare – I’d better take a leaf out of your book, Heather!  Maybe we can get my son to be a bit more adventurous!

As I was perusing Heather’s blog, I started waaaaay back in the archives (I just love looking through those old forgotten recipes!) and found a recipe for an amazing Turkey Gyro!  Since I recently perfected homemade whole wheat pitas, I knew that this was going to be the recipe to make.

My husband and I loved the sandwiches.  Picky pants 1 & picky pants 2 decided that they didn’t like meatballs the day I made these (though they both love meatballs most of the time).  My husband’s only critique was that he thought the spice could’ve been amped up a bit (but we’re total spice hounds, so add spice as you prefer).  And don’t forget to swing by Join Us, Pull up a Chair and say, “Hi” to Heather!

Recipe Notes:

*I always use disposable rubber gloves when mixing meat of any kind – it keeps that ground meat from hiding out underneath the fingernails!

*If you want to amp up the spice, double the amount of gyroseasoning called for in the recipe.

Turkey Meatball Gyros

Adapted from Join Us, Pull up a Chair

5-6 whole wheat pitas, cut in half, pockets opened

Turkey Meatballs (recipe follows)

Yogurt Sauce (recipe follows)

Spinach

Sliced cucumbers

Diced cherry tomatoes

Feta Cheese, crumbled

Turkey Meatballs

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 ¼ lb ground turkey

½ small onion, diced (about ¼ cup)

2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (about ½ tsp)

2 tsp fresh thyme, leaves only

1 ½ tsp gyro seasoning

Dash of salt & pepper

Yogurt Sauce

1 (6 oz) container plain Greek yogurt (1/2 cup)

 2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (about ½ tsp)

¼ cup cucumber, finely chopped

Dash of salt

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Thoroughly mix together the remaining meatball ingredients.  Roll the mixture into small meatballs, about 1-inch in diameter.  Add the meatballs to the hot skillet as they are rolled.

Cook the meatballs until they are seared on all sides and are cooked completely through, about 10 minutes.  Drain the excess liquid during cooking, as necessary.  Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside.

While the meatballs cook, whisk together all of the ingredients for the yogurt sauce.

To assemble, open each pita half.  Spread about 1 tablespoon of yogurt sauce into each pita half.  Add cucumbers, spinach, tomatoes, and 5 or 6 meatballs per half.  Sprinkle each half with 1 tablespoon of feta and serve.

Serves 5-6

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