Soups/Salads

Turkey and Potato Soup with Canadian Bacon

I hosted my first Thanksgiving ever last week and as a result ended up with plenty of leftovers in my fridge. My plan for this week is to take advantage of those leftovers and make some new meals with them. This first leftover recipe I made is Turkey and Potato Soup with Canadian Bacon. I just happened to have turkey Canadian bacon in my fridge after finding it in my local Whole Foods last week and it worked perfectly in this dish. The recipe calls for baking potatoes but I threw in the leftover prepared mashed potatoes I had which melted into this soup deliciously. This is a warm, creamy, hearty soup that somehow sucks me right back to my childhood. And that is a compliment.

Thanksgiving leftovers used: turkey, mashed potatoes, celery, carrots, onions, broth, sage

The ingredients:

In a saucepan, sauté onion, celery, carrot, and Canadian bacon in canola oil until soft.

Add in broth, mashed potatoes, turkey, and sage. Whisk together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Prepared mashed potatoes for baking potatoes

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Jerk Chicken Chili

Chili is usually a recipe that I make the first weekend that football starts, no matter what the temperature is outside.  So, making chili in November is pretty late for me.  But this recipe for Jerk Chicken Chili was worth the wait.  This  recipe came from Glamour Magazine – a surprising source of tasty recipes.  This chili is different than your regular chili but still just as hearty and comforting.  The spices in this chili – chili powder, thyme, allspice, cinnamon – are cooked with onion and yellow pepper early on which brings out their natural oils and intensifies their flavor.  Chicken is added and coated with the spice mixture before being simmered with the liquids, beans, and jalapeño.  Fresh cilantro and (surprise!) chocolate are added at the end to deepen the flavor of every bite.  I left the garlic out of this recipe for one reason only:  the editors at the magazine included it in the directions but didn’t include it in the ingredients!  Ugh!  Anyway, the flavor in this chili goes deep to create an intense, soothing chili that digs down and warms you to the core.  If you’re bold enough to try a different kind of chili, you won’t be disappointed with this!

The ingredients:

Heat onion and yellow pepper in olive oil until soft.  Add in chili powder, thyme, allspice, and cinnamon and cook until fragrant.


Add in chicken and stir until coated with the spices.

Add in broth, stewed tomatoes, black and white beans, jalapeños, and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 20 minutes. 
 
 
Stir in cilantro and chocolate and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. 

Additions:  None

Omissions: 

  • Garlic

Substitutions:

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Glamour Magazine

White Bean Soup with Kale and Hot Turkey Sausage

When the weather starts to get colder outside, sometimes nothing else will do but a warm bowl of soup.  This White Bean Soup with Kale and Hot Turkey Sausage is hearty, warm, and spicy – just the way I like it.  The original recipe calls for Spanish chorizo but I couldn’t find chicken chorizo in my store (bummer) so I substituted hot turkey sausage.  I cooked the sausage first before beginning and this soup came together pretty quickly.  It wasn’t until I was almost finished making this soup that I realized it’s nearly identical to the Kale, Bean, and Sausage Soup with Parmesan Cheese I made last month.  Since I devoured that soup and discovered I love kale, I knew this soup wouldn’t last long either. 

The ingredients:

Sauté onion and garlic in a pan and cook until soft.  Add in chopped sausage.  (If using chorizo, add chorizo to the pan first and cook for a minute before adding onion and garlic.)

Warm broth in a microwave for 3 minutes and add to the pan with beans.  Bring to a boil. 

Stir in kale and black pepper and cook over medium heat for 6 minutes. 

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Hot turkey sausage for Spanish chorizo

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine