Meatball Soup

This soup is yummy and subtly spicy..somewhere between Mexican and Italian, but definitely its own personality.

1 T oil or butter
1 onion, diced
1 red or green bell pepper, diced (opt)
3 celery sticks, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 + 1/2 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 c finely chopped black olives
1 1/2 c cooked rice (give or take)
1 lb cooked ground turkey, Mexican or Italian seasoned (cumin, chili powder, garlic, etc.)
6 c chicken broth (plus extra water if necessary)
1 c salsa (if mexican, or 1/2 -1 c tomato paste/sauce for Italian)
1 small can green chilies (opt.--best with Mexican)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Sauté the onion, celery, pepper and garlic together in oil or butter for 5 minutes, season well with salt and pepper and stir often.
2. Add in the chile powder, oregano and thyme cook 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the olives, rice, meat, broth and salsa/tomato and chilies. Bring to a simmer and cook 30 minutes. Stir and taste often - seasoning as needed.

*This tastes good with chicken too. And we like having it with garlic bread to dip in the yummy flavored broth. I generally don't use salsa, so don't worry if you don't have it and use tomato sauce instead...I just use my canned tomato sauce without flavoring because the rest of the soup has so much. The simmering for a long time is key to getting the flavors melded together well.

*Or just do simple italian style: Italian seasoning and tomato sauce with bay leaves. It still turns out yummy. I drop freshly made mini meatballs directly into the soup and let boil for 30 minutes until done. The bay works best if it can simmer in the broth for an hour though...so start it in advance, before meatballs go in.