Now that fall is here, I often find myself craving a steaming hot bowl of soup. One of my absolute favorites is a modified Italian Wedding Soup. Reminds me of grandma’s house (but without all the fat and carbs of her recipe!)

First, a little history lesson for you. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know where “Italian Wedding Soup” got it’s name. I just kinda assumed the obvious. But I have since learned that what we call “Italian wedding soup” in the United States is a mistranslation of the soup’s proper name “Minestra Mariata,” or “married soup.”

It is so called because all the ingredients “si sposano,” they “marry” (or blend) well together, hence the name “Minestra Maritata.” Somewhere along the way someone translated it as “Wedding Soup.” If you thought (as I did) that Italians serve this soup at weddings: They don’t.

Ok, now on with the show….

My modified version of Italian wedding soup is low cal, low carb, and obviously high protein. And it’s very satisfying! The secret here is the wheat bran. I used to make the meatballs without any sort of carbohydrate “filler” like breadcrumbs, but the meatballs turned out too firm (especially when you use the extra lean meat).

Ingredients:

• 1.25 pounds extra lean ground turkey
• .5 cup wheat bran
• .25 cup reduced fat Parmesan cheese (the powdered kind)
• .25 cup egg beaters
• .5 teaspoon garlic salt
• .5 teaspoon onion salt
• pepper to taste
• 6 cups fat free chicken stock
• .5 of a 10 oz bag of frozen spinach (loose leaf, not the boxed kind)
• 1 bag shirataki noodles (any of the tiny sizes… I use “tiny pasta” from Konjac foods)

In a large pot, bring the broth to a boil. Mix together the ground turkey, wheat bran, cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Make into mini meatballs, I like mine about .75 inches in diameter. Drop the meatballs into the boiling broth and top with the frozen spinach and cover. Give the pot about 5 minutes to heat back up to almost boiling and then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 additional minutes. Toss in RINSED shirataki pasta and remove from heat. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with a little bit of parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Makes about 5 generous bowls. Comes in just under 220 cals, 25 protein, and 2 usable carbs per bowl.