Light Meatball Soup

The last post of the year is the toughest to write. It is like racking your brain to go ahead 365 days and think how the whole year fared for you – in all aspects. Life is a multifaceted drama that gets hit from all sides, so thinking from one angle doesn’t really give a full picture of how the whole year looked like. As I think about the year, all I can think about is:

• We as a family got older by a year, whether by age or by togetherness…. hehe…
• I took a tiny step of incorporating one hour of activity into my weekday schedule, which was broken during Ramadan, my vacation in August and now… but InShaAllah, hoping to keep it on continuity in the coming year and the years that follow InShaAllah…
• We hoped that the year would be better, but that was not to be. In fact, the coming year is being looked upon with trepidation, however, knowing that there is no point of worrying about tomorrow for which we have no guarantee for, we are taking it one day at a time. InShaAllah, keeping our expectations positive still… 🙂
• There were other plans I wanted to start this year, which just didn’t happen. It was a combination of many factors but laziness ranked first and foremost in that case. Now where do I go and push off my laziness is my constant concern… 😕

Is there anything more I can think of?

One verse that got registered a lot this year into my mind is this beautiful one from Surah As-Saff: “And (He will give you) another (blessing) you will love: help from Allah and imminent victory; and give good tidings to the believers” (61:13) At times I go through my old posts and try to figure out how much I used to write about patience. Allah has a very funny way of getting things done – you see what you will need to see at that particular time. We may not realize it then but as the time passes and our mind lazily wanders by those forgotten lanes, we can’t but be surprised by how things turned out to be. Those days when I used to write heavy, my heart and mind was heavy too but now Alhamdulillah, everything has settled and it has become history, yet reading through them gives me goosebumps. Especially it gives me thoughts like, “Yikes, did I really write them???” 😀

The above verse shows how much important patience is. It is one of the only virtue you need if you are looking for success here and hereafter. Losing patience doesn’t lead you anywhere, in fact I feel it makes things even more difficult. All I can think of and hope for at the moment, that He bless all of us with a heart, soul and mind, that sees positive in everything that happens, that is hopeful for better things and that is patient and strong to take any challenges of life upfront, InShaAllah…

Having dissected 2017, let’s come back to the last recipe of this year! 😉 I wanted to share something that is apt to the climate here. We are not having a good winter this time and that makes me sad. 🙁 After going through the heat waves in the mid of the year, everybody in the Gulf region share the same excitement levels when the months of winter ushers in. No doubt it brings in some unwanted viruses and flus, but the shorter days and longer nights are perfect for barbecues or even cozy get-togethers in houses, just chatting over cups of tea and munching on snacks. Nights are all about something warm, and that mostly translates into soup.

The best part of this soup is that part of it can be done in advance, ie. the meatballs or you can even take a short cut and use frozen ready-made meatballs. The vegetables added to the soup can be anything available in your pantry. So you can use broccoli, some celery, anything that catches your attention. The meatball add the chewy texture in the otherwise light soup, making it just apt for having a warm bowl, crawling on the crouch and enjoying spoonfuls while you binge watch your favorite series on Netflix (disclaimer: I don’t have Netflix, I don’t watch series and I don’t have time to binge watch, even though I would’ve loved to! 😉 ) If you get some good mince, go ahead, make some and freeze them so that you can make this handy soup when you feel like it. Don’t like soup? Then you can convert the same meatballs into this delicious gravy!

So 227 posts during this year has been good… I have still not slowed down. I am thinking of slowing down in 2018, but I did think to do that this year and it didn’t happen. 😉 I may or may not slow down but InShaAllah, hoping to keep the same energy to continue blogging… Till we meet in 2018… 🙂

Light Meatball Soup

Course Soup

Cuisine Continental

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• FOR MEATBALLS:
• 300 gm mince meat
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp mint leaves
• 1 small onion minced
• 1/2 tsp garlic flakes
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs more if needed
• FOR SOUP:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 cloves of garlic pounded
• 1 small onion minced
• 1 cup cabbage sliced
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Italian spices I used oregano, thyme and parsley
• 1 stock cube
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups water

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients under "for meatballs" and mix well till a dough. Add more bread crumbs if required.
• Roll into balls and set aside - makes around 12 to 14.
• Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and sizzle for a minute.
• Add the onions and saute till wilted.
• Add the cabbage and carrot and cook till it starts looking soft.
• Add in spices and saute for a minute.
• Add the stock cube, water and seasoning and bring the mixture to boil.
• Drop in the meatballs and boil the mixture again. Reduce the flame to minimum, and cook on close lid till the meatballs are cooked well. Stir occasionally.
• Serve warm after adjusting seasoning, with a squeeze of lime juice, garnish of coriander and mint leaves if desired.

Notes

You can freeze the meatballs if preparing in advance. Thaw it while preparing the soup.