Vegetable, Apple Soup With Meatballs

Recently, I have been obsessed with lemongrass and basil.  These two ingredients have become my good friends in the kitchen.  I love the zesty and lemony taste of  lemongrass, and the aroma of basil.  Luckily, they are quite easy to find these days.  In this vegetable soup recipe, besides using some of the main vegetable ingredients, I also added an apple to it.  That gave a little fruity taste to the soup.  When I make meatball dishes, I like to sear the meatballs first before adding them to other ingredients.  The vegetable broth that I was using really enhanced the flavors of the soup.  It was tasty enough without additional seasonings.  

Ingredients

8 oz lean ground pork
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Pinch black pepper
2 garlic cloves - minced
1/4 cup shallots - chopped
1 cup onion - chopped
1/2 cup carrot - chopped
2 tomatoes - seed removed and diced
1 potato - peeled and chopped
1 apple - peeled and diced
1 stalk lemon grass
2 basil leaves
4 cups vegetable broth

Toasted baguette slices

The soup goes well with baguette

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine ground pork, bread crumbs, egg, garlic salt, and black pepper.  Mix well.  Roll into 12 balls. 
2. In a frying pan, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat.
3. Add meatballs to the oil, sear-fry until golden brown.  Set aside.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pot over medium heat.  Saute garlic, shallots, and onion.   
5. Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, carrots, potato, apple, lemon grass, and basil to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to low temperature.  Cover and simmer for half an hour.  Add meatballs to the soup and simmer for another 10 minutes.  
7. Serve with baguette slices.