SOUP’S ON!
It’s time to get out those soup pots out, dust them off (if you haven’t already done that) and and start thinking of some delicious, comforting, belly warming soups to eat by a roaring fire. It’s finally cold here in Texas and I’m sure a lot of you have had snow and cold weather for weeks.
Well, here in Texas even in January I might have to turn the air conditioner down to 60 and pretend it is winter outside before I get that comforting feeling from a warm bowl of anything. Not always though, sometimes we do get a few really chili days where I might put on a coat and long pants — just kidding, well, maybe not; my husband seems to wear shorts year around until it is so cold playing golf he has to put on his zip on legs to his shorts to take the chill off. And, just as soon as I wrote this, we started getting freezing temperatures and in just a few days have lost many plants in our back yard. Baby, it’s cold out side fits our neck of the woods right now.
Losing some plants is almost a good thing since my husband loves going to nurseries and brings home something almost ever day on his way back from golfing. So, when I think we can’t fit another plant in our yard, we have a good freeze to kill some of the things he has planted, giving him more spots to replant in our yard. He does do a good job and I always say that he’s the one that needs to be in my garden club, not me.
Several years ago I tried this Turkey Kale soup at a friend’s house. It’s one of Giada’s recipes that is quick, easy and healthy. I use little more broth in the soup than she puts in her recipe and this time I used wild rice instead of brown rice.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: My Slow-Cooked Chicken Tortilla Soup will hit the spot on a cold winter’s night.
Add the oil to a skillet along with the carrots, peppers and shallots and saute for 8-10 minutes. Then add in the turkey and cook until no longer pink (I cooked my turkey in advance so I could throw this soup together at the last minute.
After adding in the broth, herbs, and tomatoes, simmer for about 10 minutes then stir in the chopped kale and simmer for about 15 minutes longer. I didn’t want a really thick soup, so I added about 2 more cups of broth.
Add in the cooked wild rice (or brown rice).
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with some homemade cornbread or a crusty French bread.
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 to 6 large shallots, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/3 cups)
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 8 ounces ground white turkey meat, broken into small chunks
- 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
- One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, drained
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 small bunch kale, coarsely chopped (about 4 packed cups)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, optional
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrots and bell pepper and saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to brown and soften slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the ground turkey and stir until the meat turns white and begins to color very slightly around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the herbes de Provence and stir, 1 minute. Add 4 cups broth, tomatoes and rice. Bring to a boil. Stir in the kale and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and the freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle each serving with parsley and Parmesan, if using, and serve.
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