Matzo Ball Soup

After making a roast chicken last Friday, I whipped up a batch of chicken soup with the left over carcass. Lately, I've been making tons of vegetable broth with all the leftover bits of veggies I have from various cooking projects, so having homemade chicken soup was a bit of a treat and I wanted to use it wisely. I suppose if I was raised by a nice Jewish mother, I would have a family recipe for Matzo ball soup from which I would be unwilling to stray, but since my family is not Jewish (despite my parents both coming from Long Island and having the last name "Klein") I was on my own as far as coming up with a recipe.

I first discovered how much I liked Matzo Ball soup back in college when I worked at Rein's Deli in Vernon, CT. While Rein's can't compare to New York City institutions like Katz's, in the culinary wasteland that is Northeastern Connecticut, it is a gem.

I poked around through quite a few recipes, including my tried and true, well-stained copy of Joy of Cooking, but when I realized how unhealthy it was going to be, I had second thoughts. This brought me to purusing through HeartSmart Cooking For Family and Friends by Bonnie Stern. I was first introduced to this book by my husband, who made us her delicious Cilantro Chicken (a recipe I will have to share soon). She seems to have a knack for healthy recipes that are delicious and doesn't use any processed or weird "low-fat" ingredients, so I figured her book was worthy of some further exploration. This delicious Matzo Ball soup is just 2 pts per serving (with 3 Matzo balls!) and while it may not be just like your mom's, it was just what I wanted.

Matzo Ball Soup
adapted from HeartSmart Cooking for Family and Friends by Bonnie Stern
makes 4 servings (1.5 cups of broth and 3 matzo balls), 2 WW Flex Points

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 C matzo meal
1 1/2 t salt
2 T chicken soup
2 T chopped parsley
6 C homemade chicken broth or high quality canned

Directions:
1. Beat eggs and egg whites together in a bowl. Mix in matzo meal, salt, chicken soup and parsley. Refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, form matzo mixture into 12 small balls, about 1" each.
3. Add matzo balls to boiling water one by one, trying not to crowd the pan. Simmer the matzo balls for about 40 minutes.
4. When the matzo balls are done, remove them from the boiling water (they will have doubled in size) and add to pot of chicken broth. Bring broth up to desired temperature and serve.
If you prefer to make the matzo balls in advance, just store the drained balls in chicken broth until ready to heat and serve.