Holiday Mini Beef Meatball Skewers with Cranberry Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground Beef (96% lean)
• 1 cup grated fresh zucchini
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 small onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 red bell peppers, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 green bell peppers, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 can (16 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce
• 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine ground beef, zucchini, egg, salt and pepper in medium bowl, mixing lightly, but thoroughly. Shape into 24 1-inch meatballs. Alternately thread meatballs, red peppers, green peppers and onions onto each of twelve 6-inch skewers. Place skewers on shallow-rimmed baking sheet.

   Cook's Tip: Cover shallow-rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.

2. Bake in 400°F oven 22 to 25 minutes or until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meatball registers 160°F.
   
   Tip Cooking times are for fresh or thoroughly thawed ground beef. Ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F. Color is not a reliable indicator of ground beef doneness.

3. Meanwhile, combine cranberry sauce and barbecue sauce in medium saucepan; simmer 5 minutes or until flavors are blended. Drizzle sauce over skewers or serve as dipping sauce, if desired.