Meatball Soup

This is a riff off of a Cooking Light recipe and combines a couple of my kids’ favorite things – beans, kale, and meatballs.  It was a huge hit at dinner the other night.

Ingredients:
– One cup chopped onion
– 5 cloves minced/pressed garlic
– two celery stalks, chopped
– four carrots, chopped
– four cups of shredded/chopped kale
– two cans of cannalini or great northern beans (the white beans)
– 1/2 of a can of tomato paste
– juice from 2 lemons
– 1 cup farro
– two bay leaves
– 1/2 teaspoon each oregano and basil
– 1/2 lb ground beef
– dash of soy sauce
– olive oil

Steps:
1.  Saute the onion in some olive oil in a soup pot until golden brown
2. Add the celery, carrot, and bayleaves, saute for 5 minutes
3. Add the tomato paste, beans, and cover in several inches of water. Cover and heat until boiling, then lower the heat to a simmer.
4. In a small bowl, mix the garlic, beef, oregano, basil and soy sauce.  Add a dash of black pepper too, while you’re at it.
5. Form the meat into small meatballs and drop them into the simmering soup.  Cover and cook for an hour.
6. Pull the bayleaves out of the soup and add the kale and lemon juice.  Cover and cook for another hour.
7.  While the soup is cooking, prepare the farro (1 cup farro needs about two cups of water – just like rice).
8.  Add the farro to the soup, season with salt and pepper, and continue simmering until you’re ready to eat it.

My kids kept asking for “more meatballs” and ended up eating all of them, so feel free to make a whole pound of beef if you have a big appetite!