Soup’s Up!

Hope everyone had a great Monday! It’s been a cold and rainy day here. Definitely a sure fire way to make Monday even more fun! 😉

I’m working my late shift at the hospital this week, 9:00-7:30. Totally rocks that I get to sleep in, but most nights when I get home all I wanna do is just veg until bedtime. Tonite, I needed something for dinner that was quick, easy, and WARM!

After thinking about turkey soup for over half my shift, I decided on a combination of ingredients that would make the biggest dent in incorporate more of the Thanksgiving leftovers. I had plenty of veggies left-over from the veggie tray and for some strange reason I made 3 cups of rice for the KERF’s amazing dressing when I knew I’d only need 1. Guess I snapped into cafeteria lady mode! <-sadly, this is an actual problem I have when I get into “cooking mode”…I.just.can’t.stop!

Anyway, back to the soup!

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Vegetable Soup:
1 1/4 cup low sodium organic chicken broth
1/4 cup water
7 scallions, green and white parts, sliced (you could use about 1/4 a yellow onion, but I needed to use these up!)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 cup cooked turkey, diced into cubes
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery seed
salt & pepper to taste

1 Tbsp butter
1 heaping Tbsp AP flour
1/2 cup half & half

Combine broth, water, and veggies in a medium sauce pan over med-high heat. Bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes, until veggies are brighter in color and tender. Reduce heat to medium and add turkey and rice.

While the soup heats through, you will make the roux (this is what thickens the soup and makes it creamy). Place 1 tablespoon of butter in a separate saucepan and melt over medium heat. Once melted, add in your heaping tablespoon of flour and whisk until combined and mixture starts to pull from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and add in the half & half. Whisk like crazy until smooth and return to heat to thicken a little. Once thickened (doesn’t take but a couple of minutes), add your roux to the soup pot and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste. Enjoy!

I used to think unless it came out of a can, the only way to make soup was in the crockpot which takes planning and lots-o-time, but this super simple and fresh recipe was complete in about 20 minutes and so warm and delicious! Better than any canned soup I’ve ever had and just what I needed to end a cold, rainy Monday!