Mediterranean Turkey Meatball Salad

So as most of you know, I'm on a diet. No fun..I know! I have decided to go with South Beach Diet. I've done it in the past and lost weight and it's a heart healthy diet so I really like it. The first two weeks is horrible as you can have no sugar and no carbs. So that means, no candy, no bread. Surprisingly this time around with this diet, the first two weeks wasn't so bad. I found a few good blogs that cater to South Beachers which totally helps and I will list some of those recipes soon. But the first one I wanted to show you was actually a take off from one of my own recipes. One of my first posts on this blog was for my Mediterranean Turkey Meatball Pitas. Since I'm still on Phase 1, I can't have the pita. I love this dish so much, I thought I would try it as a salad. It was delish! I put the meatballs over the salad and used the Tzatziki sauce* as dressing. It was really good. Next time around, I might throw some olives in there and some Feta Cheese, which I am allowed to have. But even with just the lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes, this salad was super filling. By the way, I lost 7 lbs in the first week...Not bad, huh?

Mediterranean Turkey Meatball Salad

1 pound Ground Turkey Breast

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp dill

Combine turkey meatball ingredients, mix well. Shape into balls. Using non-stick skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray or a little olive oil, cook meatballs about 10 minutes or until brown and no longer pink in the center.** Combine sauce ingredients if making home made.

Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt or greek yogurt

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

2 tsp fresh dill

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp black pepper

Salad ingredients:

Romaine hearts, rinsed and chopped

Sliced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

Sliced cucumbers

Other ingredients to add:

Olives

Feta Cheese

*I buy Tzatziki sauce from Trader Joe's when I don't have time to make it. It's just as good.

**You can freeze these meatballs and put them in a Ziploc freezer bag and have them on hand for future use. If I buy the sauce at Trader Joe's, this is one of the fastest meals I can make, no lie!