“Creamy” Root Vegetable Soup with Turkey Meatballs

I don’t know what it is with me and making creamy soup without creamy ingredients, but I really like it.

finished product 🙂

I wish I had taken a picture of all the ingredients used because it ended up being quite a few.  This was definitely a night for slow cooking 🙂

The last time I went to B-foods, I bought quite a few new ingredients that I’ve been wanting to try.  Mainly, I wanted tonight’s meal to involve red lentils and celery root.

celery root - one of the ugliest vegetables known to man

I also had barley, potatoes, onion, and turnip so I thought soup would be great.  I’ve been thawing ground turkey so I wanted to incorporate that, too.

This soup turned out to be amazing.  (My boyfriend wants me to include that he’s pickky and he thought it was great).  Interestingly, the red lentils disappeared.  I had anticipated them to become pretty soft, but I didn’t think they would completely lose their color and disintegrate.  I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure this is why the soup became so creamy.  It had the consistency of cream of celery.

The soup used little seasoning, and could very easily carry itself without the meatballs if you’re vegetarian.

Creamy Root Vegetable Soup with Turkey Meatballs

–bring 8 cups of water to a boil, add 3/4 cups barley and 3/4 cups lentils (I’m going to be completley honest- these are estimates, I just poured them in)
-add 2 diced potatoes, 1/2 a diced celery root, 2 diced carrots, 1/2 a diced onion, 1/4 diced turnip
-add a bay leaf and salt, pepper, and sage to taste.  (I honestly probably used at least 2 teaspoons salt)

While the soup is simmering, make the meatballs.
-in a bowl combine 3/4 cups ground turkey, 1 egg, 1 chopped garlic clove, salt, pepper, parsley, fennel, crushed red pepper, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
-mix with your hands, form into balls, and place onto a frying pan with vegetable oil.
-brown on all sides, then place in the oven at 380 degrees for 8 minutes, or until cooked all the way through

fresh out of the oven

-Add the meatballs to the soup and let simmer for 5 more minutes

The meatballs went nicely with the soup.  As I said earlier, I would compare the soup to a cream of celery – light, yet filling and refreshing.  The meatballs add a little extra, but aren’t necessary.  The parmesan cheese really came through in these meatballs and complemented the soup well.

I was pleasantly surprised with the celery root.  It had a nice flavor, somewhat between a potato and celery.  Picky boyfriend Dave says he wold have enjoyed it if it had been chopped more.  He claims it was a little overwhelming.  I claim it was delicious and should have been chopped less.

I’m glad I saved the other half of the celery root (instead of using it all in the soup) because I’m looking forward to experimenting with it.

Total Cost: $5.54

-organic pearled barley: $0.36
-organic red lentils: $0.67
– 2 organic potatoes: $0.40
-1/2 organic onion: $0.21
-1/2 organic celery root: $0.59
-1/4 organic turnip: $0.12
-2 carrots: free! (borrowed from awesome roommate Becca)
-3/4 lb organic ground turkey: $1.92
-1/4 cup parmesan cheese: $1.00
-1 clove  organic garlic: $0.10
-1 egg: $0.17

This soup was enough for Dave and I to each have two bowls plus there are a couple bowls left over.  Definitely a good deal 🙂