Turkey Meatball Soup

I love quinoa (KEEN-WAH)! This ancient seed, a member of the same botanical family as spinach, has been a staple in South America for thousands of years and can be used in so many ways. Here, we use it as a binder instead of breadcrumbs in our meatballs. Quinoa is a wonderful source of low-fat, cholesterol-free protein (about 8 grams protein and 3.4 grams of fat per cup of cooked quinoa) as well as a good source of iron, magnesium, and fiber (USDA nutrient database). It also happens to be gluten free. As with any food, watch what you add during the cooking process for maximum health.  If you add salt, butter and cheese, sadly, this changes the healthfulness of the dish.  I prefer to buy quinoa uncooked, like rice, it is less expensive, stores much longer on your shelf in this form and it cooks up quickly. Quinoa does have a natural seed coating (saponins) that is very bitter and must be rinsed off prior to cooking.
Sources: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/quinoa.html

Serves 4-6

Time to table: 1 hour 15 minutes (includes time to cook quinoa)

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light magazine September 2013

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey breast

½ cup cooked quinoa (see instructions below for cooking)

2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about ½ cup)

a palm full of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (2 Tbsp)

a palm full of chopped fresh basil (2 Tbsp)

¾ tsp kosher salt, divided

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided

6 garlic cloves, minced and divided

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

½ of a sweet onion

2 stalks celery

2 medium carrots

5 cups chopped kale (7-8 oz), trimmed from the stems (the stems are very tough)

Hot sauce to taste (we like Frank’s or Sriracha)

1 Tablespoon tomato paste (see directions below for freezing the rest in the can)

4 cups organic, low-salt chicken broth

1 cup water

1. Measure one cup of dry quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse repeatedly (for a full minute) under cool water to remove the seed coat. If you do not have a fine mesh strainer you could put the dry quinoa in a bowl, cover with cool water, swish with your fingers and then carefully drain the water. Repeat 2-3 times. Once rinsed, add the quinoa to a small saucepan with 1½ cups water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes. You can tell it is cooked when you can see its funny little tail curled around itself (this is part of its sprouting structure). I like my quinoa with a little bite or texture to it (not mushy), if you like it a softer just cook it a little longer.  Remove lid and fluff with a fork.  This will make about 5 cups of cooked quinoa.  Let the quinoa cool and then store your leftovers in the fridge. You only need ½ a cup of cooked quinoa for this recipe; however, I cook up a batch this size and keep it in the fridge to toss into salads, soups or just eat it right out of a bowl. Check out the recipe for my curried quinoa salad to use up the remaining quinoa from this meal!

2. While your quinoa is cooking, chop up your onion, celery, and carrots into ½” pieces. Give the kale a rough chop into pieces that are about an inch or so, you just don’t want long, dangling pieces of kale hanging from your soup spoon. This makes for a mess.

3. Combine ground turkey, quinoa, grated parmesan, parsley, basil, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, about 1/3 of your minced garlic, and egg in a large bowl.  Mix gently but thoroughly and shape into 24 meatballs.

4. Heat a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pan and swirl to coat.  Add half of your meatballs (a crowded pan = poorly browned, hard to turn meat) and cook for about 8 minutes, flipping them over half way through the cooking time so that they brown, top and bottom.  If they crumble a bit, no worries, it’s just a meatball.  Remove them from the pan and place on a clean plate. Repeat with 1 teaspoon of oil and the remaining meatballs and add them to the first plate of meatballs.

5. Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to your pan along with the chopped onion, celery and carrots.  Stir the veggies around a bit in the pan, scraping the browned bits of turkey from the bottom of the pan (super yummy flavor for your soup) and let soften up for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and the kale.  The kale will be huge, fill the pan and you will think “oh my gosh, this might not work”.  Carefully, stir and rather quickly the kale will begin to wilt down into the pan.  Add the chicken broth, water, hot sauce and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Return the meatballs to the pan, reduce heat, and simmer until the kale is tender and the meatballs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

6. Serve and enjoy! Excellent with a little extra parmesan on top.

Notes: 

I use tomato paste in soups and stews to add a little depth of flavor. Most of the time you would never guess that it is in there, it just adds a lovely oomph.  So, what do you do with the remaining paste in that little can after you take out the measly tablespoon?  A small can of tomato paste has about 10 tablespoons in it. I like to put the remaining paste into a Ziploc bag, zip it shut, flatten the paste out into a brick shape and divide it into 8 or so little pieces by drawing with your finger into the bag (don’t poke a hole through).  Now, throw it in the freezer and when you need another bit, there it is.

Adaptations:

If you are in a hurry you can shave off 20 minutes or so by skipping the meatball technicalities.  Follow recipe through step 3 above and then just add the turkey mixture (omit the egg) to your stockpot and sauté until meat is cooked through. 

Want a vegetarian soup? Omit the turkey and egg and steps 3 & 4. Add parsley and basil with the kale and season with salt and pepper per your tastes. Use parmesan called for in meatballs as a topping, if you wish.

Two Steps Back

This is my little way of combining my love of growing some of my own food (two steps back) and preserving it (one step back) for use during the rest of the year.  Now, you could apply these same techniques to produce that you pick up at the Farmer’s Market or your grocery store, but I encourage you to start pondering what you could grow on your patio or in your yard.

Two Steps Back ingredients: parsley, basil, onion, celery, carrots, kale, & tomatoes for paste if you are really ambitious.  Plant these lovelies in pots on your patio or in your garden.

One Step Back:

When herbs are prolific or if you buy a big bunch at the market, wash, dry and trim what you need and then pull off the rest of the leaves (and sometimes their stems) and give them a quick whiz in your food processor with a couple tablespoons of water or chop them finely with a knife. Put a spoonful of chopped herbs in each cell of an ice cube tray (about 2/3 of the way up) and then top each off with water. Freeze until firm in your freezer and then pop them out and store them in a zip to freezer bag. This will provide fabulous flavor in tablespoon servings throughout the winter months and no wasting of all those herbs.

Onion and celery can be washed diced and frozen in zip top bags. Many onions will store quite well in a cool dry space or they can be sliced and dehydrated.  Carrots are so amazing and sweet fresh from the garden and they will grow in almost any climate.  When you have some extra carrots from the garden or market, wash them, chop them into ½ inch pieces and drop them in a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute (blanching).  This helps lock in nutrients and preserve nice, bright color. Scoop the carrots out of the boiling water and immediately dunk them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. As soon as they are cold, pat them dry with a clean towel and pack them in zip top freezer bags and freeze.  You can use this same process for kale, just shorten the blanching time to about 30 seconds.