Mexican Meatball Soup (Albondigas)

Happy Cinco de Mayo Everyone.  In honor of this Mexican holiday, I thought I would try making a Mexican style dish.  It was cold and rainy this morning so I decided soup was in order.  This Mexican Meatball Soup was perfect to warm me up on this chilly day.  I wanted to try to make this soup healthy, comforting and definitely a little spicy.

The Meatballs
To make the meatballs I used:
1lb of ground chicken (you can use your favorite lean ground meat)
1 cup of cooked rice (brown or white)
1 tsp each of the following:  garlic powder, paprika, cumin, oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste. 

Mix all the ingredients well and form walnut size meatballs.  Now you can do two things with these meatballs.  You can cook them in the soup as it is done traditionally, or you can pan fry them and give them a little color.  I decide to pan fry them because I like the texture of the meatball better when it is sauteed and not boiled.  The method is up to you.

  I added 2-3Tbs of canola oil in the bottom of a heavy based soup pot.  Once the oil was heated I sauteed the meatballs until they were almost cooked.  After they browned enough, I took them out of the pot and placed them on a plate.  Reserve the oil to saute your vegetables.

The vegetables:  
1 large onion chopped
2 carrots diced
2 small zucchini diced
1 large green bell pepper diced
2 large jalapenos seeded and diced
Saute them in the pan with the oil until tender.

Seasoning:
1 inch cinnamon stick (optional)
2 bay leaves
3-4 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chili flakes (or to taste)
1-2 Tbs chili powder (con carne) or taco seasoning

 Then add:
1 drained can of black beans
1 drained can of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of salsa

Add 8-10 cups of chicken broth or stock.  You can do this several ways: use homemade chicken stock, use canned chicken stock or use water that you have added chicken bullion cubes to flavor. 

Once liquid is added, bring soup to a boil. 
Note:  Before you begin to boil the soup, fish out the cinnamon stick so there is only a mild hint of cinnamon in the back ground.

Now add the meatballs to the soup.  If you decide to add raw meatballs, you will boil them and cook them through at this time.  If you pre-cooked your meatballs, like I did, still cook them in the broth to absorb more flavor and finish cooking through.

Simmer on the stove for 15 minutes.   Taste for seasoning.  Just before turning off the stove add the juice of half a lime to the soup.

Serves 6-8 people.  Serve  hot will jalapenos, lime wedges and tortilla chips.  Enjoy.
Note:  If you enjoy cilantro, please feel free to add it to the soup as a condiment.  Mexican food is very compatible with cilantro.