Chicken vegetable soup with chicken spinach meatballs, is a great healthy dish for a light dinner or lunch. I like to use ground chicken because it has great flavor and less fat than beef but any ground meat will work. You can also use ground turkey for an even leaner option.

As with all my soups and stews, I add a lot of vegetables.  You can buy them all separately, but I like to buy the “Leasa soup mix” in the produce section because it has most of the things I use for a soup or stew in one package. Then I just get the leeks and other stuff separately. This soup freezes well so don’t be afraid to make a big pot and freeze the leftovers in a Tupperware for another time.

Ingredients for soup:

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2-tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 leeks whites and light green only, sliced (See cook’s notes for hot to clean leeks)
• 2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut into coins
• 2 cups butternut squash cubed (optional)
• 1 turnip, peeled and chopped
• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
• 2 -32oz containers of Chicken or Vegetable Broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill
• 2 cups of cooked rice or cooked pasta
• Salt, and pepper

Ingredients for meatballs:

• 1 pound ground chicken or meat of your choice
• 1 egg
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
• ½ onion grated
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil or Pam for greasing cookie sheet
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add all the vegetables and sauté for about 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add parsley and dill.

Pour in the chicken broth and add the chicken thighs. Turn up the heat until the soup boils. Then turn down the heat and let soup cook on a low boil for about 20-30 minutes or so while you make your meatballs.

In a medium size bowl, add the ground chicken and all of the other ingredients for the meatball mix and season with salt and pepper.  (Make sure you squeeze all the liquid out of the frozen spinach box. Just hold it over the sink and give it a good squeeze with both hands. You want to wring out all that liquid so it doesn’t make the meat mixture too loose.) Combine well and shape into 1-inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet greased with olive oil or cooking spray and bake in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Once the meatballs are done cooking, you can add them to the soup and continue simmering the soup for another 10-15 minutes. Add your pasta or rice and you are ready to serve. I like to serve it with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Cook’s Notes:

If adding small pasta like pastina or thin short egg noodles you can cook it right in the soup. For all other larger pastas’ or rice, cook separately and add to soup at the end.  Sometimes to save time I just add a bad or two of Uncle Bens Redi Rice. The brown rice is a simple healthy option.