Indian Spiced Meatball Tomato Soup

I had planned on going to the gym yesterday before work, but Tony was awake when I woke up so I chose snuggling over getting sweaty.  I knew the weather was going to cooperate later in the day, so I promptly fell asleep on Tony’s shoulder for 20 more minutes. 😀

I realized I never made my wonton cups for my egg white spinach breakfast, so quicky subbed in an english muffin egg/spinach sammie and 3 clementines on the side – they were tiny!  I forgot my good camera at home, so please bear with the pictures today. 😀  Breakfast comes in at 7 points.

The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous 45 degrees when I went on my walk/run.  I probably walked a total of 5 minutes, and ended up doing my 3 mile run in 36 minutes.  My goal this coming weekend for Lori’s Heart Heathy Weekend is to try to run/walk 5 miles in 55 minutes. 😀

So I had Kerstin’s Indian Spiced Mini Meatball Soup (Printable Recipe) on my menu, but I did have to make a couple substitutions based on what I had on hand.

You all know I hate ground meat – so if I need ground chicken I just grind it myself in my food processor.

I also omitted the onion, oil and tumeric (which is why mine is so red and not orange like her version), and Pam fried the meatballs instead of baking them.  I just cooked them enough to brown on the outside, and then after the soup cooked for 30 minutes and I pureed the soup base, just added the balls back in and let them simmer for 5 minutes to cook through.

THIS IS A GIANT SERVING!  2 1/4 cups broth with 10 meatballs – 348 calories, 11.7 fat, 17.25 carbs, 1.45 fiber and 36 protein, or 8 WW points.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey ground chicken breast
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) (love this!!)
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt

I also added 1/2 cup cilantro to the meat mixture.

Soup:
1 tablespoon canola oil – left out
1 yellow onion, chopped – no thanks
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 – left out because I didn’t have any
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (I apparently can’t read and used a 28 ounce can!)
1 cup chopped roasted red peppers (I put a whole 5 oz. jar in)
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.

I put all the meatball ingredients in my food processor and pulsed until it got to my desired consistency.  Since this made 4 servings I made 40 meatballs.  In batches, I browned the meatballs just until all the sides were browned, then added them back to the soup at the end to finish cooking.

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.

I had actually never used fennel seeds before – I am not a huge fan of fennel itself, but LOVE fennel seeds.  I bought this 16 ounce container for $3.50, and this will last me a long time – I just ground up the seeds in my coffee grinder that I cleaned out.

This one is a keeper!  Perfect amount of spice without it being too spicy.  I brought a bowl for one of the attorneys I work with and he declared:

This is the best soup you’ve ever given me!

Nice. 😀

The only thing I love about it being the end of January?  It’s light out when I leave the office!

Update – just wanted to post my dinner pics.  Ever since Tony had his colon cancer surgery, he is not a fan of thick pork chops – I got a package of 5 of these for only $3.68!

So I had to butterfly them and pound them thin.

Crap – WordPress just ate the rest of my post!  And I gotta get going.  Here’s a snapshot of dinner – 12 points.

Supposed to be 58 degrees today – so crazy!   Make it a great day!