Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Since the end of the holidays, I’ve been able to cook and blog a lot more, all healthy delicious and mostly Whole30 compliant recipes. On January 2nd my hubs and I cut out all sugar including sweeteners, dairy accept for small amounts of butter, alcohol and grains. We followed these guidelines for 3 weeks and just this last weekend I had a couple homemade chocolate chip cookies & split one bottle of wine with my husband. I didn’t necessarily feel bad on these treats, but I can definitely tell that it affects my quality of sleep. This monday morning, I went right back to my healthy food routine, clean proteins, veggies, fruits, raw nuts, lentils & sprouted beans.
Okay back to the task at hand. Back in november I got the wild rice turkey soup at Panera Bread. This soup was really creamy and had all the warm comforting flavors that one needs during the winter months. I knew that this dish most likely had the canned cream of mushroom soup and dairy products that were not the best quality. So of course I decided to make my own much healthier version but it would be just as delicious as the soup from Panera Bread. I actually made this wild rice turkey soup the week after thanksgiving and used the meat from a small turkey that my farmer friend, Sarah Creech gave me. (Side Note: She owns a 50 acre organic, sustainable farm called Blue Yonder Organic Farm right here in Indiana).
Instead of using milk, I used a combination of almond and coconut milk which added a nice creaminess to the soup. Shiitake Mushrooms have a really great meaty texture and beautiful flavor, therefore it has become my my favorite mushroom to use in most soups but whatever mushroom you have in your fridge will work well.
Turkey Broth, a delicious addition to most soups and stews!
Whenever I roast a bird I always want to get the most bang for my buck especially since most of the poultry I buy is from small community farmers and I don’t want to waste any part of the bird. One of the things I always do is make broth from the bones. To make it simply place all the bones, leftover skin in a 5-7 quart soup pot, cover with water and simmer on low for at least two hours. While it’s simmering I keep it covered with a lid. Depending on the size of the poultry I can usually get 4-5 quarts of broth from a medium to large sized bird. This is plenty of broth to make two large pots of soup. If you do have leftover broth, place in glass jars, leave a 2-inch headspace and freeze.
My favorite veggies to add to most chicken or turkey soups are carrots and celery with a little bit of garlic and onion flavors. The Panera Bread version also had wild rice which added a nice texture variation and the nutty flavor blended well with all the other flavors of this soup.
It has been great to be back in my home space after all the craziness during the 2018 holiday season. Thanks so much for stopping by, CHEERS TO A HAPPY & HEALTHY DAY!
A
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Large onion Diced
- 3 Large carrots Chopped
- 3 Celery Stalks Chopped
- 4 Cloves of Garlic Minced
- 8 OZ Shiitake mushrooms
- 1 Cup Cooked Wild Rice
- 6 Cups Turkey Broth
- 1 Cup White Wine
- 4 Cups Shredded Turkey Or approximately one pound turkey
- Olive oil or Avocado oil Use to saute onions & garlic
Instructions
- Cook 1/2 Cup wild rice and while the rice is cooking, make the rest of the soup.
- Drizzle a couple tablespoons olive oil in a large soup pot, saute onions till soft. Add minced garlic and mushrooms, saute for another five minutes.
- Add chopped carrots, celery and broth. Simmer till veggies are soft but not mushy.
- Next add turkey, rice, white wine, almond milk and coconut milk. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Ready to Serve!
Notes
- Make the rice ahead of time, double triple the amount you need & use for future meals. You can also freeze rice for later use.
- Buy your coconut and almond milk. Check ingredient list to make sure that it's unsweetened and find a brand with very few added ingredients.
- Buy the turkey or chicken bone broth needed for the soup.
- Instead of roasting a turkey or chicken, find some boneless turkey or chicken breasts and thighs, roast in a small roasting pot at 350 till done. Adding 1/2 cup broth will keep the meat moist while roasting, keep meat covered with a lid while roasting.