Meatball Vegetable Soup; quick Oatmeal Biscuits

I love soup as everyone knows. Mon mari loves meatballs – as does most of the rest of the world, including me. He is not very fond of having soup as a main course. Always one to look for compromise, meatball soup is a favorite at our house. I make several different kinds. This one is for fall, when the chard gives one last growth spurt before I pull it out and quit gardening for the winter. Yes, I know…. I don’t have to stop growing vegetables here. I could have Brussels sprouts and leeks and broccoli growing well into January. I just have no desire to be tending my garden in the mud wearing a winter jacket. It’s a warm sunshine activity. An easy trick for making small meatballs of roughly the same size for soup (or anything): Divide the meat mixture in half, then each half into thirds. Make 4 meatballs out of each third for a total of 24 meatballs. For larger meatballs divide each half in half…. Click here to Pin Meatball Vegetable Soup Print Meatball Vegetable Soup This is full of healthy vegetables and makes a hearty main course. Pair it with fresh bakery bread or make some easy biscuits (recipe link below). This serves 6 – 10 depending on what you have with it, and freezes well. Author: Katie Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Yield: 8 servings 1x Category: Soup Scale 1x2x3x Ingredients 16oz ground beef (500gr mince) 1 egg 1/4 cup bread crumbs 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp basil 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 2 cups (16oz / 450ml) beef stock  1 litre (quart) tomato juice  2 tsp dried basil 2 tsp dried oregano  1 tsp chili powder  1 onion, chopped 3 carrots, chopped 3 ribs celery, chopped 2 cups shredded cabbage 8oz (250gr) chard, chopped 1 1/2 cups (15oz, 450gr) white beans, drained, rinsed 2/3 cup quick-cooking barley Instructions In large Dutch Oven (soup kettle) heat the beef stock and tomato juice over medium-high heat.  Mix egg, breadcrumbs, oregano, basil and Worcestershire sauce.  Add ground beef and mix well.  Form into small meatballs, 1″ (2.5cm) in diameter.  When stock/juice is boiling slowly add meatballs, keeping them separate until they start to cook. When soup is boiling again (after addition of meatballs) you can start adding the rest of the ingredients as they are ready. When raw vegetables are in, add herbs, chili powder, beans, and barley.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender and barley is done. Notes Prepare and add the vegetables in the following order: carrots, celery, onion, cabbage, chard. Keep the soup simmering while you work. Add barley last. By the time the barley is done, 15 – 20 minutes, everything else should be done. Keywords: meatball soup, vegetable soup One way I get mon mari to be happy when I make soup for dinner is to also make biscuits. Since I like easy, no-fuss recipes I usually make drop biscuits. There is no rolling or cutting so no risk of working the dough to much. They’re just ‘dropped’ off of a spoon. This recipe for Oatmeal Drop Biscuits makes 6 biscuits in under 30 minutes. Serve warm, right from the oven…. with butter, of course. They’re even good the next day. Pinterest Facebook Twitter Yummly Linkedin email