Turkey & Rice Soup

 As i sat drinking my morning coffee a question came to mind...
Day after Thanksgiving... "what should i do with some of the leftover turkey"?

SOUP of course!

I looked in the fridge i had all the ingredients celery, carrots, onion. My cupboard and pantry is fully stocked with quite a selection of spices, broths, rice, noodles etc...

Here we go lets get started. The ingredients you will need are as follows...

2 tablespoon real butter

1 medium onion, (1 cup), chopped

2 to 3 ribs (1 cup) celery, chopped

2 to 3 medium (1 cup) carrots, chopped

1 teaspoon finely diced fresh garlic

65 ounces chicken broth

2 nice sized bay leaves

2 cups cooked rice* (no instant rice please)

2 cups chopped Turkey (white & dark mix)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Pinch of celery salt

Salt & Pepper to taste

Before you prep the veggies, start the rice cooking as per instruction on the bag. 
Get to peeling and chopping the veggies, try to chop/dice all ingredients into the same size pieces so they will finish cooking at the same.
Melt butter in 4- to 6-quart saucepan over medium heat until sizzling. Add onion, celery, carrots and garlic; season with salt & pepper; continue cooking 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are softened.

 

When working with raw rice a good rule of thumb is 1 cup raw = 2 cups cooked. Rice doubles when cooked. Be carefull not to burn or over cook the rice. Follow the instructions on the bag & you`ll do just fine. For this recipe good rice cooked well is much better than instant rice.

 


When your rice and veggies are finished add chicken broth, bay leaves & celery salt. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil and carrots, celery & onion are tender. Stir in cooked rice, turkey and parsley. Cook 5-7 minutes or until heated through. Taste, & re-season with salt and pepper, if needed.

 Now don't that look good & it tastes great too! 

There is some thing comforting about home made soup. And this is a great way to use leftover turkey or chicken. Being the "BBQ Nut" that i am i used Smoked Turkey. The added "kiss of smoke" flavor from the turkey is amazing! You can taste the butter in the veggies, a hint of the bay leaves come to taste as you eat the soup. A down home comfort food for sure! 

Well Bloggers that's it for this one.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my "latest adventure" in cooking!