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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Loaded Turkey, Vegetable, and Wild Rice Soup

This soup is loaded, but not in the way you typically think. Health and fitness magazines often warn against ordering restaurant menu items or eating things called "loaded". Loaded baked potato? You'll find a baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, and who knows what else sitting in front of you. Dreyer's Loaded Ice Cream? You don't even want to know what's all in there!

Of course, there's a time and a place for gluttonous loading. I'm the first to preach moderation! But after what has probably been a few days of heavy eating, your waistband is likely expanding at the mere thought of anything loaded. Have no fear! This soup is loaded, but loaded but good stuff! Heavy on vegetables, this is just the type of soup to help you lighten your load (heh heh).

You can easily adapt this soup to whatever ingredients you have on hand. Substitute brown rice for wild rice, zucchini for celery, omit the kale, you get the picture. I loved the combination listed below, but in reality this was merely the result of throwing all the vegetables in my fridge into my stockpot! Really, you can't go wrong here. Just fill it up with lots of veggies and a little bit of turkey and rice, and you'll understand new meaning of the word loaded!

Loaded Turkey, Vegetable, and Wild Rice Soup
*makes 4 large servings


Ingredients:
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1/2 large onion, chopped
-3/4 cup carrots, chopped
-3 stalks celery, chopped
-8 oz. (1 small package) button mushrooms, sliced
-2 cups fresh spinach
-2 cups fresh kale
-2 cups wild rice, cooked according to package directions
-4 cups chicken broth
-1 cup turkey, cooked and shredded
-1 dried bay leaf
-seasonings to taste (I used dried thyme, garlic powder, dried basil, and pepper)

Directions:
1. In a large stockpot, saute onions, carrots, and celery in 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. After 5 minutes, or when onions are translucent, add chopped mushrooms and continue to saute until soft.
2. Add chicken broth, bay leaf, and seasonings and heat for 5-10 minutes.
3. Stir in rice, turkey, and greens. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, until heated through. Season with additional pepper, to taste.

This post is linked to Eat at Home.