Taking the traditional Italian Wedding Soup to healthier levels!
Oftentimes, creating in the kitchen involves a spark of ingenuity (especially when you chose to avoid common allergens), other times it involves reflection and a trip back to the past.
By past, I mean heritage, culture and/or ethnicity. And this soup resurrects them all....with healthier ingredients and no loss in flavour!
While hungering for the warmth and comfort of a good old fashioned soup, a childhood memory resurfaced. It was of my mom making soup.
In the Winter months, she used to make a hearty broth, to that she would then create a hearty soup. Sometimes she would add star shaped noodles✨, sometimes it had beaten eggs yolks or rice, other times it had the addition of mini meatballs. Sort of a mix of stracciatella (soup with “torn”- beaten eggs) and stelline( little pasta in shape of stars) wedding soup.
With the spark ignited, and the goal of making a healthier version of yesterday, I gathered my ingredients and set out to create something new. With a little alchemy, this ‘being in the moment version’ has no egg or refined wheat noodles and is loaded with vegetables and flavour!!
It was warming, tasty, filling, fragrant and a “more please” soup.
This soup incorporates cauliflower to give you that eggy look and feel; brown basmati rice for the noodle and a homemade broth. This soup can be made vegan, with simply substituting a few ingredients. I love having ingredient versatility in my recipes!!! You can have one dish made and satisfy the dietary lifestyle choices of many at the dinner table!
Blessings and enjoy!!
Hearty Vegetable and Protein Soup
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients
1 medium large yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks with leaves, fine chop
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 small leek, diced
1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
1 cup shiitake mushroom, rough chop
1 small- medium zucchini, diced
1 bell pepper, red or orange, diced
1 cup of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup brown basmati rice
8-10 cups of broth, chicken or vegetable
bok choy (or other greens like kale, spinach, chard ), to preference
12-16 mini chicken meat balls (meat of your choice or substitutions below)
1-2 tsp dried basil (genovese or purple)
1 tsp of dried thyme
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Optional Pecorino/Parmesan sprinkle to serve
Vegan Options: substitute tofu for the meatballs or add cannellini beans; substitute vegetable broth for chicken.
Grain free option: add 1 1/2 cauliflower florets instead of 1 cup
Preparation
clean and prepare all your ingredients
using a large Dutch oven or pot, make your mirepoix.
Mirepoix is the method of taking the prepared vegetables and sautéing them over low heat to intensity the flavours. To get the best results, having all your vegetables roughly the same size helps with not only the look, but cooking time.
start by adding 1 tbsp of olive oil to pot over medium low heat. Once warmed add your onions, carrots, celery. Sautéed till onion is translucent. There should be no simmer/sizzle sound- lower heat.
add remaining vegetables and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
add rinsed rice
add the spices, including the bay leaves
add broth
allow to come to a simmer, 10 minutes
add raw meatballs, if using (see alternatives below)
simmer on medium for 45 minutes
if using tofu (drained and diced), beans or roasted chicken breast (shredded) add the last 20 minutes of cook time.
check rice for doneness
add bok choy, or preferred greens the last 3-5 minutes of cook time
serve with a sprinkle of pecorino cheese and/ or additional pepper to taste
Meal/Pro Tips
part of the BuildAMeal.BuildABetterBody philosophy involves the pre prep and using as much of a prepared dish for future meals. If you make chicken roasts- save the carcass to make a quick broth; or anytime you have vegetable scraps you can easily turn that in a vegetable broth!
if you have leftover chicken from the roast, remove skin, shred or dice and add to soup
this soup can also be made without any onions, simply substitute fennel for the onion portion in bothe the broth making and making of soup!
portion the leftovers out for healthy lunches or quick dinner nights. Freezes well. Allow to cool completely (in fridge) before freezing.
For more on making soup and broths check out:
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