Yesterday, I envisioned a big pot of roasted vegetable soup-chock full of nutritious vegetables, and some turkey meatballs for some added protein. Off to the grocery store I went, and picked up loads of fresh veggies- Brussel Sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, onions, celery, spinach, a couple ears of corn and cherry tomatoes. I also picked up two cans of beans- black and Cannelloni, as well as a box of vegetable stock- I know "lazy". Back at home I went to work breaking down all the veggies- I cleaned up and sliced the Brussel Sprouts into quarters, cut down the broccoli and cauliflower into manageable pieces, the same with the carrots and the celery, and then I sliced half the onion into rings. I laid all of them out on a flat baking sheet, and then tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and chopped rosemary. I popped this into a 400 degree oven, and let them roast for about 8-10 minutes. I pulled them out when they still had some bite to them, but had wonderful aroma of the herbs and the roasting. What a great aroma it all had!
As I waited for that to cool so that I could start in on the soup, I turned my attention to the turkey meatballs I wanted to add into the soup. I love the idea of adding some sort of good protein to soups and stews as it just can make them so hearty and filling. Turkey meat is always a great alternative as well- not only does it have all that great nutritional protein, but its super lean (especially breast meat) and therefore doesn't contribute unnecessary fat to an other wise healthy meal. I chopped up just a couple of slices of onion, a bit more rosemary, and parsley and then combined that with a mixture of bread crumbs and crushed water crackers as well for texture, poultry seasoning and more crushed red pepper flakes- just a few. Then I added in just a bit over a pound of ground white breast turkey meat, and one egg. Once all was mixed together, I formed small balls and then placed them into a hot fry pan with just about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in the bottom. As I have extreme concerns about germs, I let them cook, turning them to each different side until they were full browned, for about 8 minutes or so, then I pulled them out of the pan, and let them rest.
The vegetables were sufficiently cool at that point, and so I put them into my trusty Cuisinart, with a couple of handfuls of raw cherry tomatoes, and pulsed them til they were ground completely-I then began to add the vegetable stock to the mix to thin it out. Then I added half a can of the Cannelloni beans, and pureed them into the mixture to make it a bit creamier. Once it reached my desired consistency, I transferred the soup to a big pot, added the rest of the beans, a few big handfuls of baby spinach leaves, the raw kernels of corn that I had cut off the ear, the meatballs, and then heated slowly til it was simmering, and the flavors were fully mixed. Big pot of soup for the week done!
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