Blind Taste Test

I made this great and ridiculously easy meatball soup. I snuck in some veggie meatballs to see if anyone would notice. I could not tell which were which!!! I had a hunch, but had to go check the frozen ones and compare size to really be sure. They were VERY convincing and much healthier. My breadetarian was a little grossed out by the meatballs, so I whispered to her that some of them were veggie. Once word got out we had to do a blind taste test. Sam in particular was very grossed out by the thought of veggie meatballs (even though he'd been eating them for 20 minutes). Long story short - THEY COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE. Not sure how to proceed with this - I'm sure they'll ask next time I make the soup. I guess I'll continue using a combination of veggie and meat so at least we're cutting down on meat consumption. At some point I'll compile my thoughts on vegan/vegetarian/flexatarianisms and do a post about it. For now, here's the recipe for the soup. It's definitely going into the rotation!!!


ITALIAN "MEATBALL" SOUP

Takes 25 minutes start to finish.
Serves 4 (I doubled it.)

1  14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with onion and garlic, undrained
1  14 oz. can beef broth (could use vegetable broth for vegan option)
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1/2 of a 16-oz. package frozen Italian-style cooked meatballs
1/2 cup small dried pasta (elbow macaroni, orzo, small shells, ditalini)
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. In a large saucepan, combine undrained tomatoes, broth and water, and Italian seasoning; bring to boil.
2. Add frozen meatballs, uncooked pasta, and frozen vegetables. Return to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are tender. Top each serving with Parmesan.

Nutrition: 337 calories, 16 g fat (much less with veggie meatballs), 42 g cholesterol (again less with veggie meatballs), 4 g fiber (more with veggie mballs), 18 g protein

This photo doesn't do it justice - it's much prettier in real life.