Abondigas Soup and Fruit Salad night

Today we went out to lunch at Olive Garden for Grandpa's birthday, so we ate way too much already. However, you know how it is...the sun sets and you wonder what's for dinner?

I decided to make a light meatball soup that called for zucchini and cilantro. I had planned to make this soup a few weeks ago, but ended up making the meatballs and freezing them for a quick dinner midweek. It's Sunday, but I am feeling lazy, so -- perfecto!

We are expecting a new SLO Veg shipment this week, so I am taking inventory in the fridge to see what I need to use up. I still had a basket of those juicy, sweet strawberries... not sure how that happened, but there they were, staring at me from the vegie bin. Okay, strawberries, a blood orange, an apple and a banana will make a perfect fruit salad to accompany the soup. I set about peeling the orange and dicing it into large chunks. Then I cubed the apple, peel and all, into bite-sized pieces. I cut the tops off the strawberries and quartered them, then sliced the banana and gave it a stir. It would be fine just like that, but I wanted to also use up some vanilla yogurt that had been in the frig for a week, so I stirred in a couple of tablespoons full. It made a perfect, sweet but light sauce for the fruit. I think the boys liked it. Taylor called the fruit salad a Gift from God!

http://www.food.com/recipe/best-albondigas-soup-107281

Fruit Salad
1 Blood orange
1 Fuji apple
1 banana
1 basket strawberries
2 Tbs vanilla yogurt

Dice fruit into bite sized chunks. Stir in yogurt and stir. Eat

Abondigas Soup
6 C chicken broth (water + 2 Tbs chicken broth powder)
1/4 C onion, diced
1/4 C celery, diced
1/4 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
1/4 C cilantro, chopped
Spicy Mexican Meatballs

I started with the broth made with water and chicken broth powder I had bought at the Health Food store (hopefully it doesn't have all the MSG and additives other products have). I heated it in a stock pot while I prepared the vegetables. I diced the onion, celery and onion and added them to a saute pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, cooking until the onions were clear. I added the minced garlic and cooked for another minute, then added the vegies to the chicken broth. I defrosted the meatballs for one minute, then added them to the soup pot. I let it cook for about 10 minutes, added the cilantro and zucchini and cooked for another 5 minutes. The soup was served with warm flour tortillas and the fruit salad on the side. 

Oh yeah, how did I make the spicy meatballs? Here are the ingredients:

Spicy Mexican Meatballs

1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb chorizo sausage, casing removed (not the fully cooked kind)
1 egg, beaten
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 carrot, minced
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup cilantro leaf, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

I mixed all the ingredients and made smallish meatballs, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Normally you cook the meatballs right in the broth, but I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes and cooled them on a wire rack. Then I froze them in a ziplock freezer bag until, well, today! I might add that I didn't add any other seasonings to the soup other than the chicken broth powder and the meatballs, and it turned out great with the just flavoring from the meatballs and vegetables.