Baked Mexican Chicken Meatballs Recipe

A few weeks ago I received a call from Evan and Sarah, on speaker phone, to discuss ideas for what to do for Evan’s birthday. I was honored that they enlisted my help, though they ended up at my cell phone via Cara, who reminded them that no one likes theme parties more than this girl. The general idea was to have a potluck at their apartment, but Sarah and Evan couldn’t settle on a cuisine to inspire the food. We discussed Italian, since Mulberry Street and its cannolis were only a block away. But being an old hat at the art of birthday piñata-stuffing and subsequent smashing, I knew Mexican would be more fun. Evan and Sarah provided a stellar spread of pulled pork tacos and corn salsa. I provided a less authentic dish, these Mexican meatballs. The recipe is simple: a basic spin on the traditional Little Italy variety, but using cilantro instead of parsley, chili powder instead of red pepper flakes, and lots and lots of gooey Monterey Jack cheese instead of the standard Parmesan. Not a bad meatball to bring to a pretty great potluck party. — Phoebe You can serve these over rice as a main course or with toothpicks as a festive finger food.