It was cold in East Tennessee last week. One of the longest sub-20° stretches we’ve had in years and we don’t like it. On the positive side, it keeps us inside and not tempted to drop in a favorite restaurant and let our Whole30 commitment slip! When the weather is like this, our attention turns to soups. This is probably our favorite Whole30 recipe since we began. We had friends make a delicious Whole30 Italian soup for us the other night and we’ve found it invaluable to have a support group around in the form of friends doing Whole30. We share recipes, whine about carb flu and headaches, and reflect on how good a cold beer or cocktail would be. (Don’t worry, we’re not turning the whole blog into a Whole30! It’s just our January challenge and we know a lot of people are using January to reset their eating habits!)
So our take on soup last weekend was of an Asian style. Our Egg Drop Soup is a filling, protein-packed soup that also makes enough for lunch and dinner for a few days. Something that is handy for those of us with busy schedules. It means, after dinner, we can pack away single servings of the soup and grab them before heading out to work.
Feel free to double-up on the meatballs and put them in the freezer inside a zip-lock bag. They make great additions to homemade marinara and zoodles or break them up and mix them in vegetable heavy dishes to add some protein for a quick lunch.
- For the meatballs
- 2 lb Ground Beef
- ¾ cup carrots, finely sliced or julienned
- 4 tablespoons culantro* (or cilantro)
- 1 serano pepper chopped
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 3 tablespoons Coconut Aminos
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs
- Red Pepper flakes or our favorite Olde Vidren's Red Hot Sprinkles
- For the Soup
- 1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil or other neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
- 2 serano peppers, remove seeds and dice
- 4 cups of stock (compliant chicken, vegetable or beef stock)
- 3 cups water
- 3-4 tablespoons Coconut Aminos
- juice from 2 limes
- 6 eggs, whisked
- 1 cup yellow or green onions, chopped
- 1 large carrot, julienned
- 4 tablespoons culantro* or cilantro
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Make meatballs
- This step can be made ahead and store meatballs in refrigerator until ready to use. Preheat oven to 400°.
- Combine all meatball ingredients in large bowl. Mix just until everything is well incorporated. You don't want to over-work mixture.
- Shape into 1 ½ - 2 inch balls and place on parchment lined baking sheets.
- Bake 25 minutes
- Remove from oven and either use immediately or allow to cool and place in ziplock bags and refrigerate or freeze for use later. Thaw in refrigerator before use.
- Make soup
- Add sesame oil a large 6 quart pot and place over medium heat. Add ginger and chilis and sauté for 1 minute
- Increase heat to medium-high and add stock, aminos, and lime juice. Slowly bring to gentle boil.
- When broth mixture is boiling, give it a stir in a circular motion and slowly drizzle whisked eggs into soup in a fine ribbon.
- Reduce heat and add remaining onions, carrots, and culantro or cilantro. Add meatballs and season with salt and pepper to taste.
