I'm so excited about my soup for this week that it's getting a post all to itself.  Yeah, it's that good.  I'm gonna be a happy girl at dinner time every night I have this to look forward to!  

Take a look at what I'm dealing with here.

I have learned a lesson from last week and wasted no time getting back on the protein train.  This recipe, including my little tweaks as calculated on My Fitness Pal, packs an awesome punch of protein (23 grams) and a respectable amount of fiber (3 grams).  Oh, and it's delicious.

To make this soup, I used Williams-Sonoma's Turkey Meatball Soup with Spinach and Farro recipe.  It yielded a TRUE 6 servings, and it's very filling -- there's considerably little liquid in relation to the meat, grains, and greens, so it's almost more like a stew.  To accommodate my tastes (and what I had in my pantry), I make a few key modifications:

  • Kale in for spinach.  Kale does a better job maintaining a bit of a crunch instead of being like spinach that gets all wilted and limp, which is a texture I can't get on board with in a soup with so much wonderful chewy texture.  It's a little higher in calories than spinach (by about 26 calories per 100 grams, so it's chump change), but it has nearly 50% MORE protein and is higher in vitamin A.  Plus, I just prefer kale.
  • Waaaaaay more than 4 oz of kale.  I used at least 6.
  • An additional clove of garlic.  I don't ever put fewer than 4 cloves of garlic in any recipe.
  • Lemon juice instead of lemon zest.  Really, it could be skipped altogether and not missed, but I like having a bit of lemon in meatballs for moisture, not taste.  Nothing ruins a meatball like dryness, and turkey meatballs are fussier than beef ones.
  • Half plain panko, half whole wheat.  I accidentally picked up the regular white stuff at some point, so I'm trying to sneak it into recipes in nearly undetectable ways just so I don't waste it.  So, I did 3 TBSP of regular, 3 TBSP of whole wheat panko bread crumbs in the meatballs.
  • 1 TBSP shredded parmesan instead of 3 TBSP.  Again, this could be skipped altogether.  I only used the cheese in the meatballs because I had some left and needed to use it before it goes bad.  If -- no, WHEN -- I make this soup again, I won't use the cheese unless I have it on hand already.

 

Altogether, here's the nutrition profile of my Turkey Meatball Soup with Kale and Farro.

Oh my gosh.  So yummy, so satisfying, and so easy to make!  If only all soups could be like this.

Anyway, here's wishing everyone good luck and strength during the temptation tests that await you at your Super Bowl parties tonight!  I'll be home with a soup bowl of my own in a state of total bliss.  Cheers!