The holiday’s aren’t always about decorations. I love to have festive foods. They either embrace the flavors of the season and most often I like to have something that’s part of the theme. These are not on delicious, but using ground chicken made them lighter and less filling before a big meal. I liked using the celery tops since I had to buy some for all the other dishes I’m making I felt like I used all the parts more than I usually would.
Pumpkin Shaped Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
(Adapted from My Food and Family)
2 celery stalks and 16 celery leaves, divided
1 lb. ground chicken breast
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup ATHENOS Crumbled Blue Cheese
1 egg, beaten
6 Tbsp. KRAFT Classic Ranch Dressing, divided
5 Tbsp. Buffalo wing sauce, divided
3 Tbsp. butter
Heat oven to 350°F.
Chop enough celery stalks into small pieces to measure 1/2 cup; place in medium bowl. Reserve remaining celery stalks and leaves for later use.
Add chicken, bread crumbs, cheese, egg, and 2 Tbsp. each dressing and wing sauce to chopped celery; mix just until blended.
Cover rimmed baking sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. Shape chicken mixture into 16 meatballs, using about 1 Tbsp. chicken mixture for each meatball; place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake 18 min. or until done (165°F).
Melt butter. Mix with remaining dressing and wing sauce until blended.
Dip meatballs, 1 at a time, into dressing mixture, turning to completely coat all sides of each meatball with dressing mixture. Place meatballs in single layer on platter.
Cut reserved celery stalks into 16 pieces, each about 1-1/2 inches long. Insert into tops of meatballs for the pumpkin stems. Add celery leaves as shown in the photo.
