Gingery Meatball Soup with Bok Choy

This is their version. Photo: Con Poulos; Food styling by Simon Andrews;
Prop styling by Marina Malchin

This is my version (I was really bad about pictures last night)

This is the halfway point--this should have been last nights recipe (August 15), but we unexpectedly had a night to ourselves and went out on our first date since the baby was born. The scheduled recipe for tonight was steak, but it's storming so we will have the skipped meal from last night and save the steak for tomorrow night (since it's already defrosted).

Gingery Meatball Soup with Bok Choy

Woman's Day Magazine, January 2014

Active Time: 25 minutes         Total Time: 30 minutes                          Level: Moderate

Serves: 4                 Cost per serving: $2.25

Ingredients:

• 1 piece fresh ginger
• 1 large egg
• 2 scallions
• 1 clove garlic
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. bread crumbs
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 6 c. low sodium chicken broth
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1 medium carrot
• 4 head baby bok choy

I have my tube of ginger, hopefully that works for my "piece" of ginger. The grocery store did not have three things I needed: ground chicken (I got turkey), red chili peppers (green serrano will have to do), and baby bok choy (I got a single head of regular bok choy). I don't really even know what bok choy tastes like (my husband apparently loves it), but it's something I've been meaning to try. I'm going to rock out to some old school No Doubt and get my cook on.

Directions:

1. Heat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil. Grate 1 Tbsp ginger, thinly slice remainder.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, scallions, garlic, grated ginger, 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper. Stir in cilantro then bread crumbs. Let sit for 2 minutes. Add chicken and mix to combine.
3. Form meat mix into 1 1/2" balls (20 total) and place on prepared baking sheet. Broil until cooked through, 6-8 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring broth, sliced ginger and chili to a boil. Add carrot and simmer 1 minute. Add bok choy and simmer until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add meatballs and stir in additional cilantro, if desired.

Well, jamming to No Doubt lasted 30 seconds, then my husband skipped to CCR. Apparently he hates Gwen Stefani, which is crazy. She was my idol in high school. When we were dating, he pretended to like my music. It was a lie--had I know his real taste in music this relationship would not have existed. I mean, honestly, who hates Gwen Stefani?

So a couple minor issues/changes with this one. Someone ate all my carrots, so I just left them out (I'm the only one who likes cooked carrots anyway). I used Panko breadcrumbs. It actually worked using the tube of ginger, but if you have the option, go with the piece of ginger. I left the pepper whole, because Lila wasn't going to touch it if it was "hot lava". This worked out pretty well, but if you want it hotter I would either dice the pepper or chop into a couple big pieces.

Andy really liked it, even with the cilantro in the meatballs. His personal preference would have been to replace the meatballs with an Asian noodle. I had Udon noodles in the cupboard, but he didn't feel like waiting another 20 minutes to eat. Maybe next time.

I thought it was pretty good, I had two bowls. I liked the meatball better than the soup. Lila also liked the meatball and broth, but she wouldn't touch the bok choy. Andy took a bite of the pepper and dared me to, which I declined. Then we told Lila if she tried the bok choy I would take a bite of the pepper. Worst decision today. My tongue had third degree burns I'm sure.

Tips: When you add the bok choy to the broth, add the stalks first, simmer for 1-2 minutes and then add the leaves.

Verdict? Taste of Day Success