Turkey Meatball, Orzo and Escarole Soup

I realized the other day that it has been a very long time since I made any kind of soup for dinner. It's time for soup!!! The days are cold and blustery and there is nothing better than coming in from outside with a hot bowl of satisfying soup. Gentle warmth from the inside out.

Eating healthy has had it's challenges. I prefer creamy soups as opposed to clear soups, so I am trying to psych myself out and change my preferences - without sacrificing flavor and texture. Substituting a leaner chicken breast or turkey breast meatball for a beef meatball is a smart and healthier choice. I'm most surprised by how tasty the low sodium or sodium-free chicken stocks are! I thought they would be very bland and watery, and that is just not the case. I've also focused more on eating colors. Red beets, purple cabbage, green spinach, orange carrots - - a rainbow on your plate signifies health and well being.

If only I would stop procrastinating and get myself to the gym!

What was I talking about? Oh yes! Soup! The following soup has become an instant classic in my kitchen. It was easy to prepare, tasty, reheats well and kept me full for the rest of the night due to the high protein content of the turkey meatballs.

TURKEY MEATBALL, ORZO AND ESCAROLE SOUP


For the meatballs:
1 lb ground lean turkey breast
1 cup Italian style bread crumbs
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add all meatball ingredients in a large bowl, and gently combine with your fingers. Do not overmix! Form meatballs into 1 inch balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, shaking the baking sheet halfway through the cooking process. Remove from heat and let cool.

Leftover cooked meatballs can be frozen for up to 3 months in a zip lock freezer bag.

For the soup:
Prepared Turkey Meatballs
1 1/2 cups chopped carrot
1 cup dried orzo
8 cups chicken stock
4 cups roughly chopped escarole
salt and pepper, to taste
water, if needed

In a large stockpot, bring chicken stock to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and add carrots and orzo. Cook for 10 minutes. Add turkey meatballs and escarole. Cook until meatballs are completely heated through and escarole wilts into the soup. (Add water, if soup is not broth'y enough.) Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with some bread of your choice. My choice was a 9-grain breadstick, so easy dipping.


The meatballs provided the biggest flavor punch with just a hint of garlic in the background, and the carmelized texture from baking them in the oven. The orzo was nice and tender. My only change would be exchanging the escarole for spinach, as I prefer the taste of spinach to the other. (Escarole is a lettuce, and even though it does wilt into the soup, it still keeps a watery crunch.)

Turkey-day Leftovers - - Swedish Meatballs made healthier

2 people.

18 pound fresh turkey.
4 1/2 hours cooking time.
Leftovers galore = PRICELESS

We're not totally glutenous...we planned for an entire week of leftovers when we bought such a large turkey for two people. Not only did we feast on hot open-faced sandwiches, but I also re-purposed some traditional items into entirely new dishes.
, meat
Who says that you need to roast the entire bird all at once? Before our brine experiment, I cut away one of the breasts and placed it in the fridge for the next day. Why? So that I could use the lean meat to make some homemade turkey meatballs! I just ground the meat myself in my food processor.

(Not Really) SWEDISH MEATBALLS

2 lbs ground turkey meat to substitute the ground beef in my meatball recipe.
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups half & half (the original recipe called for cream!)
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken, 99% fat free
black pepper
1 package of uncooked dried egg noodles
chopped fresh parsley, for garnish if desired

Follow meatball recipe in the link provided, substituting 2 lbs ground turkey in place of the ground beef, or make you own meatballs using your recipe...OR purchase a package of pre-made meatballs!

In a large skillet, sweat onions and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the half & half, sour cream and chicken soup, stirring to combine. Add already cooked meatballs and continue to cook in skillet for 20-25 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken. Meanwhile, prepare egg noodles as directed on package.

Season meatballs and sauce with a few grinds of fresh black pepper, and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve over eggs noodles.


This dish satisfies that creamy texture I was craving - but still remained on the healthier side, since I used fat-free or low-fat ingredients and lean turkey breast meat in the meatballs. Be forewarned that the turkey meatballs will have a slightly different texture than beef or pork meatballs traditionally used in Swedish Meatballs. Plus, it was totally different than the other turkey meals we had after Thanksgiving!!! It was a total curve ball!

Dinner is served - a little late...

I hope everyone who reads this blog had a wonderfully chaotic Thanksgiving!

This year, Nathan and I decided that we wanted to keep everything low-key and instead of celebrating with family we made a tasty Thanksgiving meal for the two of us. We cooked (and ate) way too much food, checked out all of the Black Friday circulars, napped, played with the puppies and went to bed early. It was my idea of heaven!

The chefs over at Food TV have been telling us to brine our turkeys for years now - to ensure a moist, flavorful bird. Since we don't mind being Guinea pigs, I said "What the hell, let's do it!"

POULTRY BRINE

1 gallon of boiling water
2 cups kosher salt
2 cups honey
1 (5lb.) bag of ice
cooler, or other large vessel
raw turkey, cleaned with giblets removed

Once gallon of water is boiling, dissolve both salt and honey. Let cool slightly. Position turkey in container so the cavity is within your reach. Empty 1/2 of the bag of ice...carefully pour brine liquid over turkey (add additional water to fully cover bird, if needed) and follow up with remaining ice. Make sure that the liquid is in the cavity as well, or you will have a floating turkey. Cover and place in a cool, dry place and leave at least 12 hours or overnight.

Ready to roast: Drain liquid from container and remove bird. Thoroughly rinse bird removing any brine residue. Set in roasting pan, and pat dry with paper towels. Prepare bird as desired.

I like to think the brining worked, since we *kinda* took positioned our turkey a little too close to the top of the oven, thus giving it a little more color than we hoped. The breast meat still came out super moist and succulent. I'm pretty sure that if we didn't do the brine, it would've been as dry as sandpaper. Everyone has been asking "Is the meat salty?" and the short answer is NO. I don't really understand all of the science behind it, so if you are like me, you just gotta take my word for it. The brining process is a bit of a pain in the ass, to put it bluntly, so we may not do it again. I've read some bloggers who dry brined their bird with good success, so there's a possibility we may take that route next time.

The dogs waited on the couch patiently as we dressed the table.


Unfortunately, the turkey did not make a formal appearance at our table, since the table was a little small, and we had so much other food! It was a tad disappointing for me, since I purchased a beautiful new serving platter to place it on, and fresh herbs as a "bed" to ground the turkey and keep it in place. Oh well.

Leftover recipes to follow!