Thursday, March 24, 2011

Tammy's Matzo Ball Soup

My friend Tammy introduced me to this delicious soup, which has become my favorite way to combat a cold, or just a cold day.  I've lightened it a tad by removing the skin from the drumsticks, but otherwise it's pretty close to hers, although hers of course tastes better. :)  You'll notice there's a lot of "wiggle room" in the amounts of vegetables.  Adjust them as you see fit--the veggies don't add points so you can put more of what you like and less of what you don't.  If you've never eaten a parsnip, I encourage you to try them in this, especially if you're making it for someone sick.  It gives the soup a kind of "medicine-y" taste, but in a good way.

Ingredients:
About 4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
About 4 celery stalks, cut into chunks (you can dice up the leaves and include them if you like)
1 small onion, chopped
10 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
4 cups chicken broth or stock (fat free)
1-2 cups of water as needed
salt and pepper to taste
fresh dill, minced
1 package Matzo Ball mix, with ingredients required to prepare (I used 1 packet Manischewitz mix, which requires 2 eggs and 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to prepare.  Nutritional info on the box is for slightly larger matzo balls than I made--I made 10 when it "should" have made 9, but that's not in the calculations).

In a large pot or dutch oven, combine first 8 ingredients (carrots through salt/pepper).  When adding water, just add enough that everything is covered--if you add to much it will taste thin and you might need to toss in some bouillon.  Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for at least 20 minutes (longer is fine).  Follow directions to make matzo balls (they need to go in the fridge for 15 minutes so you can do this while the soup simmers).  Bring soup back to a boil and place matzo balls in it.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes (again), covered.

I generally leave my chicken on the drumsticks, but you can take them out and remove the chicken from the bone if you wish.  Points are calculated for servings including 2 matzo balls and 2 drumsticks each.

Makes 5 servings, 6 pts each.  Spoon into bowls and top with fresh chopped dill.  Yum!

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