This soup is the essence of winter. The leeks and potatoes from my Full Circle Farms deliveries had been accumulating in my fridge and pantry. This soup is an amazing use of these simple ingredients. I make this soup for dinner and take/send the leftovers to be reheated in the office microwave the next day. I like to serve this with homemade croutons (in this case I made pumpernickel croutons) and a bright salad (anything with apples or beets would be perfect).
Matzo ball soup is a traditional Ashkanazi Jewish dish made from a meal of matzo, the traditional unleavened bread eaten during Passover. Traditionally, the matzo meal is combined with eggs, and “schmaltz” (chicken fat) and cooked in a chicken stock with vegetables. My version is vegetarian with an amped-up amount of herbs.
Winter is soup season, and this one is a crowd-pleaser. If you haven’t tried making matzo ball soup, you should. It’s delicious and couldn’t be easier. When paired with a salad, it makes a great weeknight dinner.
Continue reading Vegetarian Matzo Ball Soup (and a mini-tangent about eggs)
I highly recommend using dried black beans for this soup. However, canned beans can be substituted if you would like to make this soup quickly. You may think the quantity of spices looks high. I have found that black beans tend to require a heavier hand with the spice jar if you really want to taste the flavor of the spices.
I like to garnish with cilantro lime crema, and pico de gallo or mango cucumber salsa. However, any of the following would make terrific garnishes: crumbled tortilla chips, minced red onions, pickled onions, diced avocado, sour cream, freshly squeezed lime, cheese, cilantro . . .
