Meatballs. Hardly worth elaboration but certainly worth adding to your repertoire of easy weeknight meals. Make them on a night when you don't know what else to make. Eat them on their own, toss them with pasta, or add them to a soup like I did. Make a meatball sub, stick toothpicks in them and have a party, eat a plateful as "study food." Pick your protein and your fillings. Be creative. Serious Eats recently tried Nigel Slater's recipe for meatballs with beets, with good results.
I've never made meatballs, and I wasn't in the mood for recipes. And you don't really need one. Start with 1 pound of ground chicken (or other meat). Add an egg, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. That's your foundation. This will make 35-40 small meatballs.
From here, experiment. I used a mix of fresh herbs from my garden (chives, cilantro, basil, Italian parsley), dried herbs and spices (coriander, dill), chopped red onion, grated Parmesan cheese, and some ketchup. Don't worry about having unified flavors or about using your bare hands to combine the ingredients.
To cook the meatballs, heat some oil over medium heat in a pan and cook the meatballs in batches until they're brown all over and thoroughly cooked. It doesn't take long. If you're adding them to soup, you can finish cooking them in the pot.
