albondigas – that’s a fun word to say out loud

What IS an albondigas anyway? In a nutshell, it’s the Spanish word for meatballs.

The first time I ever heard that word was when I was in my International Cuisine class.  We were exploring the South American dishes of the world, and we happened to have a recipe for Albondigas.  Living in California, there are plenty of people with Central and South American origins – and my class, was no exception.  Being the little island girl that I was, I had no idea what this dish was. I read the recipe, and looked at it in confusion… I thought, “Hey, this recipe looked like a meatball recipe. What gives?” I turned to one of my classmates in askance… he simply chuckled at me and told me I was right.

I’ll never forget that day, because I realized, that every culture has its own version of the meatball. It comes on sticks, in sandwiches, in soups, on pasta, with rice… all sorts of shapes and sizes! And what about the American hamburger? That’s just a flattened meatball, right? It can be grilled, barbequed, boiled, broiled, baked, fried… so many endless possibilities!

Here’s a really easy recipe for albondigas soup in homemade vegetable broth. This is something that I’ve simple thrown together with ingredients from my garden, and an overabundance of ground beef.:

Broth:

¼             brown onion – chopped

2              medium tomatoes – chopped

4              tbsp of fresh ginger – minced

4              garlic cloves – minced

1              sprig of thyme – chopped

5              fresh basil leaves – chopped

1              sprig of lemon verbena – chopped

1              sprig of cilantro – chopped

1              juice of lemon

2              zucchini or yellow squash – chopped into half moons

½             medium daikon – chopped into half moons

3-4          red potatoes – cleaned and quartered

3-4          bok choy, bunches – cleaned and separated

3-4          tbsp olive or canola oil

1/2         cup unsalted butter

water

2tsp       cumin powder

2tsp       paprika

Cayenne pepper to taste

Salt and black pepper to taste

Albondigas (meatballs)

3lbs        ground beef (you can mix/substitute with pork or chicken)

1              cup of cooked rice, Calrose preferred

3              tbsp powdered garlic

2              tbsp salt

2              tbsp black pepper

½             tbsp seasoned salt

Cooking:

1. Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add olive oil and half the butter. Add onions, garlic, and ginger.  Let cook until onions are translucent and soft.
2. Add the tomatoes. When these start to look soft, add the lemon juice.
3. Add the zucchini and daikon. Add the rest of the butter. Sprinkle with a little salt and cover. (This will help release some of the water content in the vegetables to help soften them faster). Let this sit for about 6-8 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika, a little bit of fresh ground black pepper, and salt.
4. Add the potatoes, and then add enough water to cover all the ingredients. Let this come to a boil.
5. While your broth is boiling, you can start making the meatballs.
6. Mix all your ingredients in a large bowl. Use your hands! You’ll get better coverage this way. To roll the meatballs, take the desired amount in your hands (you can make these any size you want! I recommend meatballs that are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter) and roll.
7. Now that your water is boiling, check on your potatoes. These should be fork tender.
8. Taste your broth – if it needs salt, add more! For more spice, add black pepper and cayenne. Once you have your flavor adjusted, it’s time to drop the meatballs.
9. Carefully drop the meatballs into the boiling water one at a time. Be careful! You don’t want to splash this on yourself.
10. Once all the meatballs are in, check your water level – is there enough liquid in there to cover all the ingredients? If not, just add as much water as you want (and be sure to adjust the salt).
11. Let the meatballs cook for about 2 minutes.
12. Turn the heat off, and add the bok choy on top. Cover. The residual heat from the soup will cook the bok choy – so don’t panic.

Enjoy with some rice, crackers, or by itself!