Happy Wednesday, friends! And welcome to December! I’m going to start out the month with a new recipe. I’m calling it Turkey Vegetable Soup, and you must try it! Especially if you have leftover turkey!
Last week for Thanksgiving we deep fried four turkeys. Yes, four! So, while my husband was carving the turkeys, I snagged a carcass (as my father-in-law calls it) and put it in a zip lock bag for later. It’s been in the fridge ever since so today I pulled it out and put it in a pot and covered it with water. I slow-cooked it for a few hours on simmer and that alone smelled amazing! All of the juices from the turkey and the seasonings melted out into the water making a delicious broth. (And here is the lovely carcass….)
I pulled the remaining meat from the bones and put it in a separate pot and poured the broth on top. Then I just started adding whatever I had on hand, making up the recipe as I went along. I also had some leftover turkey in a bag in the fridge so I chopped it up and added it to the pot. Naturally you can add or omit any of the ingredients and season it to suit your taste. You can also use chicken stock instead of making your own broth too, but this is a great way to use what you have and I assure you it’s worth the effort! Here’s the recipe below!
TURKEY VEGETABLE SOUP
-6 cups turkey broth
-3 cups chopped, cooked turkey
-1 large yellow onion chopped
-3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
-4 stalks celery chopped
-2 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into small cubes
-1 can sweet corn drained (approx. 12 ounces)
-1 can cut green beans drained (approx. 10 ounces)
-2 cloves garlic chopped
-1 small 6 ounce can tomato paste
-1 -8.5 ounce bag of Quinoa & brown Rice with Garlic. (I used Seeds of Change brand)
Salt, pepper and italian seasoning to taste.
Mix all ingredients into a pot and cook on the stove cook until the vegetables are tender, approx. one hour. You can add a little water if the broth cooks down too much. (If you don’t happen to have a turkey carcass and leftover turkey, you could do something similar with a whole chicken.)
NOTE: I had some fresh, whole green beans in the fridge, so I just trimmed off the ends and chopped them into 1-2 inch slices and used those in my soup instead of canned or frozen.
This soup was so flavorful and hearty, and just perfect for the cold weather we are having this week! And I imagine it would freeze well too, but we will probably eat all of it over the next few days. Well, thanks for stopping by and let’s chat again soon! xoxo Dell
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