Baked Enchilada Meatballs

Hot and dry and the grass is thinning. Dad was right about the drought year — we're going to be short on hay. I called around Monday and found a rancher outside Hardin who has surplus to sell at a reasonable price. I'm picking it up with the flatbed Thursday. An extra two hundred bales should see us through February if we're careful. The cattle don't know about the drought. They just keep eating.

Outpatient is down to twice a week now — Monday and Friday. Dr. Stein says I'm stabilizing and the lower frequency gives me more independence, which he says is part of the treatment. More rope. We'll see what I do with it.

I went to the Thursday AA meeting again. Same church basement, same coffee, same circle of people working on the same hard thing. A man named Gary spoke this week — retired electrician from Billings, been sober twenty-two years. He's the kind of person whose sobriety is load-bearing, structural — not a thing he's doing but a thing he is. He talked about his worst week, twenty years ago, and the way he described it I recognized every detail even though the specifics were completely different. The mechanisms of rock bottom are apparently consistent across professions.

After the meeting he came and found me in the parking lot. He said, "New?" I said, "Third meeting." He said, "You from around here?" I said, "Roundup." He said, "Good distance. The distance helps." He gave me his number. I didn't call it. But I kept it.

Mom made her enchiladas Tuesday — corn tortillas, ground beef from the ranch, green chile sauce she makes from dried chiles and chicken broth. I helped by grating the cheese and it was the most domestic I'd felt in months, just standing in the kitchen doing a simple task next to my mother. Twenty-one days dry. Three weeks tomorrow.

Mom’s enchiladas Tuesday night were the first meal I’d helped make since coming home — just grating cheese, standing in the kitchen, feeling like a person who lives somewhere. These baked enchilada meatballs carry the same flavors she builds into her green chile sauce, the same melted cheese, the same warmth that doesn’t ask anything of you. Sometimes the best thing a recipe can do is give your hands something simple to do while the rest of you catches up.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups green chile enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
4 corn tortillas, warmed (for serving)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Set oven to 400°F and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Mix the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix until just combined — don’t overwork the meat.
Shape. Roll the mixture into roughly 24 meatballs, about 1 1/2 inches each, and arrange them in the prepared baking dish.
Bake. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the meatballs are browned and cooked through.
Add the sauce. Pour the green chile enchilada sauce evenly over the meatballs, turning each one gently to coat.
Top with cheese. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar over the top of the sauced meatballs.
Finish. Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 8–10 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Serve. Let rest for 5 minutes, then top with chopped cilantro. Serve alongside warmed corn tortillas.

Nutrition (per serving)

Baked Enchilada Meatballs — Standing in the Kitchen Next to My Mother