Albondigas Soup

I love meatballs. Finally after 2 years my hubbie to be eats chicken and yes the first dish I wanted to make him to celebrate was albondigas soup.

If I do say so myself, it is a friking masterpiece.

Soup:

Heat Chicken stock in a stock pot. Add 1 onion halved, cilantro stems, 1 ripe tomato halved and 2 jalapeno peppers halved to stock. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium while cooking for another 30 minutes.

Meatballs:

1 lb FREE RANGE ground turkey ( I used dark meat so that it would taste meatier)
2 FREE RANGE chicken chorizos
1tbsb garlic powder
1tbsp chile pwder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1tbsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt

Remove chorizos from casings or if chorizos are cooked, set them aside and add them to the step below. Season the meat mixture with all of the above seasonings.

1 red onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 tsp chopped chipotle chile in adobo

Combine the 3 ingredients above in a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times or until diced sufficiently. Add the diced ingredients to the meat mixture.

Heat a pan with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

2 cornbread muffins (corn tortillas or cooked rice also work)
1 egg

Crumble the cornbread muffins and add to the meat mixture. Then add the egg and combine thoroughly. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.

Shape the meat mixture into palm sized meatballs. When the oil is hot enough pan fry the meatballs until browned on 2 sides. Note if the meatballs are falling apart add an extra egg to the remaining meat mixture. Place the pan fried meatballs on a plate lined with paper towel.

Once meatballs are pan fried. Remove the vegetables from the stock pot and discard them. Add meatballs to stock along with 1 18 oz. can diced tomatoes, 1 cup brown rice, 2 tbsp cumin and 2 tbsp oregano.

Let simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is tender and meatballs are cooked through.

2 zuchinnis
1 bunch chard

Slice zuchinni and chard into bite size pieces. Add vegetables to soup and cover. Cook for 5 minutes.

Garnish finished soup with cilantro, chopped avocado, lime and chile powder if desired.

Buen provecho!!!