Clean Eating Italian Wedding Soup found on Freeze your way Fit
I was really craving Soup since the weather is getting colder and I decided why not try Wedding Soup- My children love regular wedding soup and so I wanted to see if they would love the clean version as well…. MY SON LOVE IT!!! He loved the meatballs- but my daughter had a hard time because she is use to Quinoa as a side dish so she thought we had “rice” in our soup, we will Try again!!!
The results: Only 143 Calories but it packs a whopping 12g of protein, 2g of dietary fiber, 118% of your daily value of Vitamin A and 51% of your daily value of Vitamin C. In one little bowl of soup… and tastes delicious while being filling. Yay 🙂
Ingredients:
Soup –
- 7 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- 4 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 2 stalks of celery, sliced
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 5 cups of kale (or other greens)
- 1 Tbsp dried fennel (Anthea did NOT like this addition and she felt it was a weird taste [not that it stopped her from inhaling two full bowls mind you] so the next time we made it we didn’t put it in. I thought the second batch was missing something and that the fennel really added a nice flavor so, when she’s not here, I always add it. I say, if you have fennel on hand, sniff it and if you think it would be a taste that you’d like, throw it in there. It kind of has a licorice flavor but it worked for me.)
Meatballs-
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1/3 cup finely diced onion
- 3 big sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I use unfrosted miniwheats ground in the blender)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
ONE: Add a little drizzle of olive oil to a big pot and toss in the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, fennel (if you’re using it) and quinoa. Cook over medium high for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions just start to soften and the quinoa is slightly toasted.
TWO: Add the broth, water, and pepper and bring to a gentle boil. While the soup mixture is heating up, begin cutting the kale into small pieces and adding it into the liquid. I hold a bunch of kale in one hand and use my kitchen scissors to snip the leaves into the pot. Discard any stems or tough pieces.
THREE: Once the soup is boiling, reduce to a simmer. In a medium bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients and mix well. (I use my hands which is totally gross-feeling but does the best mixing job)
FOUR: Using your hands, roll the meatball mixture into mini meatballs and drop them into the pot. (If the mixture seems too dry and the meatballs won’t stick together, add a splash of egg whites.) After about every 10 or so meatballs, use a spoon to push them down into the soup. You might need to add a little extra water or broth if there’s not enough liquid to submerge them all.
FIVE: Once the last meatball is in the pot, increase the heat to medium and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through, the veggies are tender, and the quinoa has little curls. Serve garnished with a bit of extra parmesan cheese if desired.
