The Weather Did NOT Cause Me To Make Soup

Eating soup without bread is wasteful. You can't sop up those last creamy bits without that carb-y sponge.

Brian and I have this continual argument that I KNOW we will have our stakes in the ground about until the day one of us dies and the one who remains will absolutely be claiming themselves the victor. You may already understand this about me but I'm a glass half full kind of person (generally) and my husband is a glass half empty kind of guy (usually). This affects my grocery list and fridge in the following ways. 

I'm walking through the grocery store.....

Me: Brain says we need veggies but I KNOW we have peppers, a half pack of mushrooms, and a full bunch of kale in the fridge at home. That's plenty for now because it'll force me to use it before it goes bad. 

Brian: Anna just bought groceries two days ago but I just opened up the fridge and there's 6 inches of space not taken up by a piece of produce, we only have a dozen and a half eggs left, and I know there's an entire untouched bag of chicken left in the freezer. I better go grocery shopping because there's nothing left to eat in the house. 

I promise you this is only a mild exaggeration at most. Somewhere along the line I decided that I was going to use up as much as I can in the kitchen before I shop again and Brian is, let's just say "less than thrilled" by this approach. Maybe I hate grocery shopping? Maybe I hate having a packed fridge? But I like to think that it's because I enjoy the challenge of continuing to come up with creative ways to make a meal. Thus, the soup above. Which had nothing at all to do with the fact that hell froze over last week. 

I have had these meatballs staring me in the face for months just hanging out in my freezer. I couldn't figure out what to do with them because, honestly, I really don't care for meat in the shape of balls. I don't know if it is the hamburgers I grew up on that were in the shape of tennis balls with the dried onion mix smashed into them to absorb any last ounce of moisture or if I just don't like recipes surrounding meatballs but nonetheless....I bought them. Because I love a good challenge. 

I decided what better way to get rid of these bad boys than to put them into a creamy soup with lots of good veg and a healthy amount of garlic. From there it was all about figuring out the balance between what I had and what would actually work.

Currently, I constantly have a stream of Tuscan kale hanging out in my fridge because it ticks off the dark leafy greens category and it stands up to the test of time and temperature in the fridge. You should know about me by now that I ALWAYS have fresh garlic on hand and also tend to have some special carb hanging out in the wings. Which this time happened to be red potatoes. Brian and I are the Italian version of meat and potatoes hearty northerners. Which means our meat is usually red, doused in garlic and cheese and our potatoes are actually rigatoni or penne. 

Soup is INCREDIBLY forgiving so if you have a deep irrational fear of forgoing any recipe.....start with soup. It is a good way to practice. Make a chicken stock and start throwing junk in. Not enough flavor? More garlic. Not hearty enough? Add a carb. Too salty? Add a splash of half n half. Not satisfying enough? Top it with cheese. Seriously. If it's not perfect keep tweaking. Sometimes I think the best creativity is knowing you haven't arrived and just enjoying each attempt. Don't believe me? Here's a loose recipe for ya.

Creamy Tuscan Kale Soup

-In a large stock pot saute add: 1/2 medium white onion and 2 cloves of garlic in 3T butter over low heat until the onion is translucent 

-Fill stock pot with 4 cups chicken stock

-Add 1 cup water

-Chop 10-12 little red potatoes in slices or quarters and add to the pot and let it go at a healthy simmer

-Take 1 lb of meatballs and brown in separate saute pan with 2 T olive oil (I just tossed my frozen meatballs in the stock pot with the liquid because I'm lazy but you are benefiting from my creative process because I realized browning would be better. You're welcome.)

-After browning the meatballs add them to the stock pot and let everything simmer for 10 minutes

-When the potatoes are slightly tender chop 1 bunch of Tuscan kale or whatever kale you want and add to the pot (You want kale because unlike fresh spinach it will hold some of it's texture and crunch after cooking.)

-Finally, mix 2T of corn starch with 2T water to make a slurry and add it to the pot with 1/4 of half and half. Let this simmer for another 5 minutes until the soup thickens slightly

-If you like things spicy add some red pepper flakes. If you like things Minnesotan spicy add pepper. Make sure and add salt to taste at this point. Otherwise your soup will be bland and bland is not what we're going for

Dish the soup into deep bowls, pop whatever bread you've got lying around into the oven to crust up and douse it in butter or dip it in olive oil and voila! Your husband is pissed because he won't be able to eat it for 20 minutes because he can't eat anything remotely warm and your kid will be happily shoveling kale and those slightly less gross meatballs in their mouth! 

Tip: Feel free to sub the potatoes for al dente cooked pasta noodles of your choosing and the meatballs for Italian sausage for a more rustic soup!