Comfort Meatball Soup

To a medium bowl, add chopped apple, scallions, yogurt, breadcrumbs, coconut aminos, chili powder, harissa, vinegar, horseradish, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add ground sirloin and mix with your hands until just combined. Do not over-mix. Form into meatballs that are the size of golfballs and set on a clean plate. You should have about 28 to 30 meatballs.

Heat the beef broth in a pot over medium-high. While the broth heats, heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Place meatballs in the skillet in one layer and brown them. Do not crowd them—if you need to, brown the meatballs in 2 batches. (To get even browning on all sides, I use a small spatula and roll the meatballs around about every 30 seconds. Once the meatballs firm up, pick up the skillet and shake it around so the meatballs roll about inside it. This will keep them nice and round while browning them on all sides.) This should take a total of 3–4 minutes.

Pour the hot beef broth over the meatballs in the skillet and bring to a boil. Add orzo pasta, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Add the spinach to the soup and stir gently, then cook for another 2 minutes or until the spinach is wilted but still bright green.

Serve in bowls and garnish with additional salt and pepper if desired.