I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I just love mini meatballs in soup! They turn almost any broth into a legitimate one pot meal and are just so delicious and cute. I make mini meatball soup fairly often and this time around decided to give my bowl a little Indian twist.

I whipped up a creamy tomato and red pepper soup spiced with a bunch of my favorites – coriander, cumin, ginger, garam masala, cayenne pepper, and turmeric. Then I mixed in the mini meatballs, which were packed with garlic, ginger, cumin, fennel powder, and cayenne pepper. Mmm, this is such a warm, comforting, and hearty meal! I probably should have gone the extra mile and garnished the dish too, but it was late, and I was too hungry to mess around with it any further. I’m guessing a swirl of Greek yogurt and sprinkle of cilantro on top would be delicious though!

Indian Spiced Mini Meatball Soup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 large egg
1/2 cup panko
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons fennel powder (ground fennel seeds)
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Soup:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
To make the meatballs, heat oven to 375˚F. Place ground turkey, egg, panko, garlic, ginger, cumin, fennel powder, cayenne pepper, and salt in a large bowl and knead with your hands until well mixed. Shape into 50 mini meatballs and place on a large cookie sheet. Bake at 375˚F for 12-14 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

To make the soup, heat canola oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic and sauté 30 seconds; stir in coriander, cumin, ginger, garam masala, cayenne pepper, and tumeric and sauté an additional 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and roasted peppers, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for 10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree soup until smooth or place batches in a blender and process until smooth. Stir in apple cider vinegar and salt. Mix in cooked meatballs. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 366 calories, 18.0g fat, 2.3g fiber, 38.3g protein per serving
Cost: $2.63 per serving

Well hello, did you miss me? Last week was a whirlwind, and try as I might, I never quite managed to get a post up. I spent the first couple of days attending a conference for work just outside of Boston. Then Apolinaras and I headed over to Portland, Oregon for my friend’s beautiful wedding. We had such a fantastic time catching up with everyone, and I’m hoping to get a trip recap up soon! We returned this morning to an empty fridge, but I just made a grocery list and all the ingredients for this lovely soup were at the top.

Every fall, I get very excited to try a few new pumpkin soup recipes and this time I added some hickory smoked bacon and apple juice to the pot for some extra layers of flavor. I also stirred in a touch of cream and some apple cider vinegar for a bit of tang. Then I garnished my soup with some sweet sautéed apples and crunchy sunflower seeds. We may or may not have inhaled the whole pot in one day…good thing I put enough ingredients for a double batch on my grocery list this time!

Pumpkin Apple Soup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 slices hickory smoked bacon, chopped
4 large shallots, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon roasted salted sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds if you have some around!)

Directions:
Heat a large stockpot over medium high heat and add bacon to the pan; cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until crispy, stirring regularly. Drain on paper towels. Add shallots to the same stockpot with the bacon grease and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Add chicken stock, apple juice, pumpkin puree, the cooked bacon, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth; stir in heavy cream and apple cider vinegar and heat 2 to 3 more minute or until warmed through.

Meanwhile, make the apple garnish by placing apples, butter, and brown sugar in a small pot over medium heat; sauté for 10 to 12 minutes, or until apples are softened and lightly browned. Stir in sunflower seeds. Scoop soup into bowls and garnish with chopped apples. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 313 calories, 16.1g fat, 3.9g fiber, 8.0g protein per serving
Cost: $2.48 per serving

Apolinaras and I ventured back to HMart on Super Bowl Sunday and enjoyed big bowls of udon soup for lunch from the Japanese section of food court. We always go back and forth on what to order because everything looks so tasty, but I think we made a good choice, because the soup was just delicious and packed with thin slices of tofu, seaweed, green onions, and broccoli– so good! We’d also never had udon noodles before and had a great time slurping them up. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, that I immediately got out my shopping list and jotted down all the ingredients I could identify in the soup so I could attempt to recreate it at home.

Look at all the goodies I scooped up that I’ve never bought before – frozen udon noodles, fried tofu, dried seaweed, and dashi miso (from what I can tell, this type of miso has bonito extract in it, which is commonly used to flavor Japanese soup stocks). I also got a huge package of dried shitake mushrooms, because I thought they would add a great extra layer of flavor, and I couldn’t resist buying them because where else can you can get so many dried mushrooms for just $3?

I was super happy with how my soup came out. I cooked the udon noodles according to the package directions and added them to a pot with the rehydrated shitake mushrooms and mushroom stock, chicken broth, seaweed, broccoli, and tofu. Then I added the miso and green onions after reducing the heat. I like to mix miso with a couple cups of broth in a small bowl to make sure the miso fully dissolves, before adding it to the stock pot, otherwise big chunks of it end up floating around. This meal came together really quickly and I’m very happy that I still have enough of all the ingredients to make it again soon – yay for HMart!

p.s. Congrats to Monica, who won my Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolates giveaway!

Udon Miso Soup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 9-ounce packages frozen udon noodles
3 ounces dried sliced shitake mushrooms
3 cups boiling water
12 cups low sodium chicken broth
0.3 ounces dried seaweed, cut into strips
4 cups broccoli florets (I used 12 ounces of frozen florets)
9 ounces fried tofu (called soy cutlets), cut into long thin strips
1/2 cup dashi miso paste with bonito extract
5 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:
Prepare udon noodles according to the package directions, drain, and rinse well with cold water.

Place mushrooms and boiling water in a medium bowl and stir well; let sit for 30 minutes or until mushrooms are rehydrated. Place mushrooms and mushroom stock, chicken broth, seaweed, broccoli florets, and tofu in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and place 2 cups of broth in a medium bowl. Stir in miso and return to stockpot; stir well (make sure the miso doesn’t boil or you will kill the flavor!). Stir in noodles and green onions and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 444 calories, 10.8g fat, 4.8g fiber, 18.8g protein per serving
Cost: $1.98 per serving

Remember when I mentioned I was testing a few soup recipes last week?  Work has been super busy, but I finally got around to making this one last night and had to post it right away because it’s so addicting! I had a huge bowl for dinner and went back for seconds, and I wish there was more left because I wouldn’t mind a little snack right about now…

It’s really all about the mini meatballs. I love them in soup because they just make it so much more hearty and tasty. Instead of making a traditional Italian wedding soup though, I decided it would be fun to try a Mexican inspired version. I mixed Ancho chile powder, cumin, and oregano spiced mini meatballs in a red and poblano pepper tomato broth and garnished the soup with avocado and feta. Next time I’m going to make a double batch so the leftovers last longer!

Mini Meatball Mexican Soup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Soup:
1 large red pepper
2 poblano peppers
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/3 cup crumbled feta

Directions:
To make the meatballs, heat oven to 375˚F. Place ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, chile powder, cumin, oregano, and salt in a large bowl and knead with your hands until well mixed. Shape into 50 mini meatballs and place on a large cookie sheet. Bake at 375˚F for 13-15 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

To make the soup, heat oven broiler. Place peppers on a greased cookie sheet and broil for 15 to 20 minutes or until outsides are black and charred, turning once. Cool to room temperature, remove blackened skins and seeds, and roughly chop roasted peppers.

Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Add chicken broth, water, tomatoes, and roasted peppers, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for 10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree soup until smooth or place batches in a blender and process until smooth. Stir in lime juice, cumin, and salt. Mix in cooked meatballs. Scoop into four bowls and garnish with avocado and feta. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 418 calories, 18.9g fat, 6.1g fiber, 44.8g protein per serving
Cost: $2.72 per serving