Italian Wedding Soup

Can you all stand another cooking post!?

This is my favorite soup recipe; I found it in magazine called "Clean Eating". Once I tried this soup, I went on-line and subscribed to the magazine. The soup is THAT good! You should also know that, although I do receive some magazines as gifts, I rarely subscribe to them myself because (1) I am really frugal and (2) years ago I learned the #1 way to have less clutter in your life is to cancel magazine subscriptions. So there you go... this magazine is so good I made an exception. While I don't totally "eat clean" all the time, I really appreciate the concept... eat several times a day, be label savvy, avoid processed and refined foods, control portions, and so on. On to the soup; I've adapted it just a tad:

Italian Wedding Soup

3 slices whole wheat bread

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 pound ground lean chicken or lean turkey

1 medium carrot (finely grated)

1/2 medium yellow onion (grated)

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3 eggs, divided

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth or stock (two big cartons)

10 ounces (approximately) fresh spinach (chop it up as best you can)

salt and pepper to taste

1 to 2 tablespoons grated Parmesean cheese (low-fat if available)

1. Toast the bread in toaster; tear each slice into 4 to 6 pieces and place in food processor. Add two cloves of garlic and pulse until garlic and toast form bread crumbs. Measure out 1 cup of bread crumbs and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, onion, carrot, 1 cup bread crumbs, basil, oregano, and one egg white. Stir to combine. Measure out into small meatballs which are about 1/2 tablespoon in size.

3. In a large pot or Dutch Oven, bring the chicken stock to a simmer. Drop the meatballs into the simmering broth. Allow the meatballs to cook for approximately 5 or 6 minutes. While the meatballs simmer, chop the spinach up. It doesn't have to be finely chopped or anything fancy, just needs to be chopped up a bit, even if you are using baby spinach. (Tip: I know you have the food processor out; however, resist the temptation to put the spinach into the food processer to chop it up. Trust me, I tried it... sloppy, gloppy green soup!)

4. Add the spinach to the broth and gently fold in. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

5. In a small bowl, combine 2 eggs and the Parmesean cheese; whisk. Once the spinach has wilted, stir the egg-mixture in the soup. (Adding the egg mixture makes the soup resemble Egg Drop Soup like you find in Chinese Restaurants. The egg part of this recipe is optional. One friend, Monika, made this soup and said she enjoyed the recipe, but next time she prepares it, she'll leave out the egg. I'll leave that up to you).

If you try out this soup, I'd love to know what you think.