In terms of Prepping ahead, you can make the meatballs and store them raw for a day or two in the fridge or freeze them raw up to 3 months ahead!  You can prep the veggies and make the Teriyaki Mustard Dipping Sauce 1-4 days in advance.  

Let’s start with the veggies.  You can really use whatever veggies you have in the fridge for this stir fry.   I used carrots and broccoli, but you can use celery, zucchini, cabbage, red or green pepper, onions, and more.  Cut the carrots into thin strips and the broccoli into small florets.  

Combine the Dijon Mustard with the Teriyaki Sauce and ½ tsp Sesame Oil.

Let’s move on to the meatballs.  Peel the garlic. Coarsely chop garlic and scallions and ¼ of the red pepper.  Save some thinly sliced greens from the scallions for garnish if you like.

Peel the ginger. You can scrape the skin off with a spoon, use a peeler or simply cut off the skin. Chop the ginger (the blender will do the rest).
Into the food processor, put the garlic, scallion, red pepper, ginger, chili pepper flakes, and the soy sauce. Pulse for 30 sec, scrape down the bowl and process 1 minute more, or until finely ground.

Mix the blended ingredients into meat along with the panko breadcrumbs.

I use a tablespoon to scoop out the right amount of meat and then roll in a meatball.  Roll meat into 24 balls each about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. TIP: score the meat in half, then each in half again, then again to give you 8 equal portions of meat. Then roll 3 balls from each of the 8 portions to give you 24 same-size balls.

At this point, you can move on to cooking the meatballs or storing them in the fridge or freezer.  If you want to freeze them, lay them all out on a sheet pan to freeze and then transfer them to a freezer storage bag once frozen.  

COOK YOUR TERIYAKI MEATBALL DINNER

Make the rice noodles by bring a large pot of water up to a boil. Add the rice noodles to the boiling water and push them down to submerge. Stir the noodles as they soften and cook for 5 minutes until the desired texture. Drain and rinse under hot water. Place back in the pot until ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees. Place the meatballs on an oiled sheet pan. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (if frozen, cook for 30 min) until browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside.

While the rice noodles and the meatballs are cooking, make the veggie stir fry.  Preheat a large skillet on high and add a tbsp of olive oil and the Carrots. Cook the carrots for about 5 minutes, then add the broccoli, garlic, and ginger.  Stir so that they do not burn and cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften.

Add the water and teriyaki sauce and then stir in the rice noodles, and meatballs to combine and cook for another 3-4 minutes to warm through.

Serve by garnishing with the scallion slices and drizzle the Dipping sauce over top or serve on the side and enjoy!