Soup! Soup! Soup! So many varieties ! Chicken soup, squash soup, beef soup, broccoli soup, potato soup, lentil soup. Soups are great for any occasion. They can be  filling and fill you with comfort. I used to hate cooking soups, could never really get the texture right, soggy veggies, mushy potatoes and or noodles, not enough taste. I refused to give up and discovered it’s all about timing! I want to share a recipe I found online at geniouskitchen.com for Sopa de albondigas. I changed this recipe around a bit, ok I changed it a lot!!! But still wanted to give credit where it’s due. Lets just say, this recipe inspired me. Let’s get to it!!!! Let’s start with the meatballs, I use ground turkey meat and add 2 tablespoons of chopped mint, 1/4 chopped onions, 2 cloves chopped garlic, bread crumbs, sea salt to taste and pepper,  1 teaspoon turmeric, smoked paprika and 1 egg, these ingredients are what gives the meatball a nice juicy texture. Roll those babies to 1 1/2 in. uniformed balls and put them on a tray and into the fridge. Next let’s make our base for the soup, in a medium sauté pan you will add 2-3 tablespoons oil; whatever oil you have on hand should be ok. Sauté 4 chopped tomatoes, half a onion chopped ,4-5 cloves of garlic, 2 ancho chilies 3 guajillo chilies. After you sauté you will add water and let it simmer for about 5 minutes or less.
While your sauce is cooking boil a pot of water. Next you will pour your sauce into a blender and blend well with salt and chicken bouillon (remember this sauce will be poured into unsalted boiling water. Add the blended sauce into boiling water.) Now you can add your meatballs and let simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are fully cooked. Once the meatballs are fully cooked you can add your potatoes and carrots, don’t over cook! I always add my potatoes first. I usually buy the baby potatoes no need to cut those just throw them in the pot. After adding your potatoes and carrots and they are cooked but not over cooked I take the pot off the burner.  You could now add zucchini and chayote; in doing this you will not over cook the veggies nor suck all the nutrients out of these beautiful colorful veggies and you will still have that nice crunch. You can use these tips for any soup you are cooking. I hope this helps you create a perfectly textured soup. Enjoy!