OMG, someone has finally responded to my call for ethnic family recipes!!! Thank you, Doris! I really appreciate your willingness share this recipe.

Doris calls them “meatballs”, but to my eye they’re burgers. Whatever you call them, they’re delicious, and I have hard evidence to prove it. Thinking that my husband would eat the leftover meatballs for lunch during the week, I made a double batch when I tested the recipe on Sunday. After I went to bed that night, my son, who’s the marketing maven of a Boston restaurant chain, dropped by to hang out with my husband.  The next morning there was only 1 left! So much for coasting through a week of homemade lunches…

If you glance at the nutritional analysis,  you’ll see that Doris’s recipe could benefit from a stay at the spa, and I intend to give it an all-expenses-paid trip. We’ll see whether I can transform it without its getting “lost in translation”.

Note: Each of Doris’s “meatballs” contains a little more than 1/3 cup of the beef mixture.

Doris Perez’s Salvadoran Meatballs

• 1 egg
• 1 pound ground beef
• ½ cup chopped fresh tomatoes
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Tomato sauce, optional

1. Beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the beef in handfuls and then add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, mint, bouillon, salt and pepper. Blend well.
2. Form the mixture into 8 patties approximately 3″ in diameter and ²/₃” thick.
3. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties approximately 5 minutes per side until nicely browned. Serve immediately, with tomato sauce, if desired.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: Calories 393, 32 g total fat, 13 g saturated fat, 150 mg cholesterol, 5 g total carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 21 g protein, 451 mg sodium.