Quick and Easy Chicken and Veggie soup

I think that Chicken Soup is the best medicine! I was sick this weekend and I really wanted some homemade chicken soup. But I did not have the energy to be up trying to cook a batch of my famous chicken soup that takes hours to make and lots of effort!

I knew I had a package of Red Bird organic lean ground chicken in the fridge that needed to be used so I decided to make a quick Chicken Meatball soup. I put on a mask and scrubbed my hands ( so my family could have some soup without my cold germs :-)  and put this together  in just a few minutes! It simmered a bit and was wonderful! I even sent my sweet husband off to buy a box of organic, free range low sodium broth and he came back so happy that he found it! Anyway, this soup was delicious, even without homemade broth and helped me feel so much better.

I love the Redbird brand of chicken that is organic and their ground version is great for making this fast. I did not have to cut up chicken so this could come together easily and quickly. I did not even form the meatballs, I just used a spatula to cut the ground chicken into little squares and gently turned them to brown. You could form the meatballs for a prettier soup but this was just great and fits with the whole idea of quick and easy!!

I added all of my healing foods for a sore throat, congestion and cough....ginger, garlic, rosemary and lemon. I also included good nutrition with some sweet potato and hearty kale with the fresh goodness of parsley. Since I trying to limit carbs, I just added a little bit of pearl or Israeli couscous.I thought the round balls of couscous would go well with the meatballs.   I am normally all about the noodles in chicken soup I left them out because, I am so excited to say,  I am finally losing weight by limiting carbs and eating more protein! I could have skipped the couscous but since this is all I ate that day, I thought it would be okay to include it!

Quick and Easy Chicken Meatball Soup with Kale, 
Sweet Potato and Parsley

1 – 1 ½ lb. ground lean organic chicken, red bird preferred

1 TBSP ginger paste

2 tsp garlic paste or 3-4 cloves garlic pressed

1 tsp red pepper blend or other spice

1/2 tsp each of garlic powder and onion powder

½ tsp crushed rosemary

1 sweet potato, cut into thin, small pieces for quick cooking…   plus any other vegetable you prefer.

5-6 cups chicken broth, homemade or boxed, organic, low sodium

1 cup white wine or water

1-3 TBSP lemon juice, optional

6 large kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped into bite size pieces

2/3 cup or more chopped parsley, flat leaf preferred

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup cooked Israeli or pearl couscous or other small pasta or rice

garnish with extra parsley when serving

Brown ground chicken, breaking it into little square “meat balls” and gently turning occasionally to brown evenly. You may of course form meat balls but this quick method works for quick,easy soup J

Add ginger, garlic and spices.

Add sweet potato or any other vegetable that take a longer time to cook (carrots, potatoes, etc.). Sauté for 4 minutes.

Add broth and wine or water and lemon juice

Simmer till sweet potato is tender, about 15 minutes or so

Add kale; cook 1 -2 minutes until kale is tender. Add parsley or fresh herbs and remove from heat. Serve!