Turkey and Quinoa Meatball Posole

Soup Battle Royale was playing out in my head this morning.  One camp was screaming, "I want Posole", the other "I want Meatball soup".  Whoa, keep it down in there I had to keep reminding myself.  The battle went on for what seemed like hours, finally I decided to step away and have an oatmeal, apple, ginger cookie while I cleared my head.

I really wanted both kinds of soup, but decided to use a process of elimination to find the winner.

Posole
(pros); spicy, hominy, crunchy, pork (need I say more)
(cons);  3 hours to make, lots of pork and wanting to cut back on meat

Before I even finished with the cons (that and I was mentally tired), I cried out - I just want some spicy, tasty soup with meatballs and I don't want to spend all day in the kitchen.  

Soup Base

8 dried New Mexico chili pods

4 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 - 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt

1 - 29 ounce can white hominy, rinsed and drained

Turkey and Quinoa Meatballs

1/2 pound ground turkey

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large egg

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Garnishes

Radishes, thinly sliced

Tostada chips

Lime wedges

Bring four cups of water to a boil and pour the boiling water over the chili pods and let soak 15-20 minutes.

Turn a heavy stockpot on to medium heat and add the olive oil, onions and celery and let cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables are starting to get a little color.  Add the garlic and cook a few minutes longer.  

Add the softened chili pods to a blender with 2 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid and pulse until finely chopped.  Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and discard the skins and seeds.  

Add the chili mixture to the stockpot and add the crushed tomatoes, 2 cups of water, cumin and salt and let cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.

Combine the ground turkey, quinoa, garlic, egg, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.  I shaped the mixture into quarter sized meatballs and added them to the soup.  Let cook 5 more minutes.  

Add the drained and rinsed hominy and cook 10 more minutes.

Serve with sliced radishes, tostada chips and a squeeze of lime.

Hopefully I saved you from having this same battle play out in your head.  The meatballs are soft and tasty, the broth is spicy but not too hot and if you are like me you will need all the radishes in the above photo for your bowl alone.

Enjoy,

Gina