This weather.  Oh this weather.  It’s the kind of weather I can’t wait for in the middle of summer.  Cozy, football-like weather that pairs so well with a warm bowl of soup.  Give it to me in late August and I’m jumping for joy.  Give it to me in mid-May and I pout like a 2 year old.  Speaking of two year olds, Georgia asks daily, on the way home from our morning outings, if we can drive by the park to stop and look.  Talk about heartbreaking.  So we do, every single day.  We drive up to the park and I stop in front of it and we look.  “Oooooh, look mama, monkey bars!  Maybe next time we can go on that slide!”.  And then we pull away and drive to the house, “see you next time, park”, she says.  I’m beginning to think she has forgotten the joy of actually playing at the park and has learned to love looking at the park just as much.  The mind of a 2 year old.

This soup recipe is great for these kind of days.  Days where you are looking for warmth and comfort food but don’t want the heaviness of a stew or a chili.  It’s packed with nutrition and flavor and its an absolute cinch to throw together.  Who needs 75 and sunny, anyway?  ME!!!!!   Not me.

Chicken Meatball Soup

Notes:  Any fresh bread will do to make the breadcrumbs…just throw a few slices in your food processor and pulse it until it forms tiny crumbs.  I prefer to use whole grain Ezekiel bread for this recipe….so nutritious and it tastes awesome in here.

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

1 Pound Ground Chicken

1 Cup Fresh Breadcrumbs

2/3 Cups Grated Parmesan Cheese

4 Garlic Cloves, grated or pressed

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon  Black Pepper

For the Soup:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Medium Onion, diced

5 Cups Chicken Stock

2 (15 Ounce) Cans Great Northern or Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 Cups Sliced Carrots

2 Cups Packed Spinach Leaves

Directions

In a medium bowl mix the chicken, breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic, eggs, salt and pepper with your hands until just combined; do not over mix.  Roll the mixture into tablespoon-sized meatballs.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add the meatballs and brown on all sides (they do not need to be cooked through); remove the meatballs from the pot and set aside.  Add the onion to the pot and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the stock, beans and carrots and bring the soup to a simmer.  Add the meatballs back to the pot and simmer over medium low heat until meatballs are cooked through and the carrots soften, 5-10 minutes.  Stir in the spinach and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 4.