Turkey, Wild Rice & Cannellini Bean Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Well you didn't expect me not to do a leftover turkey soup right? I actually love leftovers much more than the actual Thanksgiving meal and no sooner was dinner over than I was cutting most of the meat off the turkey and tossing the carcass into the slow cooker (on low and slow) with some veggies and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar for a nice bone stock. The next morning I strained the lovely golden stock (about 4 quarts worth) into some large containers and put them in the fridge for 24 hours so the fat was easily skimmed right off and I ended up with a thick jelled stock ready to be made into soup.

My "after Turkey Day" soup varies each year--it might be Turkey Veg, or Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice, or Turkey Noodle. This year I felt the lure of a simple soup with veggies and a wild and brown rice mix I bought, and I wanted to up the fiber a bit with some beans so this Turkey, Wild Rice & Cannellini Bean Soup was born. Thick, hearty, nutritious and full of great flavor, it is perfect for the windy, rainy, cooler days we are having this weekend. They are saying possible thunder storms today, and although it doesn't look like it will happen, I wouldn't mind-an occasional stormy Sunday with a stack of magazines, a good movie and a hot bowl of turkey soup is good for the soul!

Turkey, Wild Rice & Cannellini Bean Soup

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes about 4 quarts of soup)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, (preferably sweet), diced

2 carrots

2-3 stalks celery

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried marjoram

2 tsp dried parsley

2 bay leaves

the leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme

1 1/2 cups wild or brown rice (I used a mix of both)

3 1/2 quarts turkey or chicken stock

2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups turkey meat, cubed and/or shredded

1 cup frozen peas

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic and saute about 5 minutes. Add sage, marjoram, parsley and bay leaves and saute another few minutes. Add rice and stir to coat with oil and spices and pour in stock. Bring stock to a boil, turn down heat to medium-low and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes. Add cannellini beans and cook another 15 minutes, then add turkey meat and peas and simmer another 5-10 minutes until rice is completely cooked and everything warmed through. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Notes/Results: Exactly what I was craving, a thick and hearty soup with excellent "herby" flavor. I have trouble making a small amount of soup and this makes a lot--some will go in the freezer and some will end up mixed with some potatoes and leftover gravy into a turkey pot pie. The beans and brown/wild rice blend give the soup lots of fiber making a bowl of it it pretty much a meal on its own but wanting a little cranberry action, I made some cranberry yogurt cheese to spread on toasted baguette slices. The pink color doesn't really go with the soup but the flavor is perfect, it uses up any extra cranberry sauce (or is worth making some fresh for), and is perfect on a bagel or wrap.

Cranberry Yogurt Cheese

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

1 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup cranberry sauce puree (see note below)

Place yogurt in a yogurt drainer or use a fine mess strainer lined with cheesecloth or paper towel placed over a bowl. Place in the fridge overnight so liquid will drain out and yogurt will become the texture of soft cream cheese. Mix cranberry puree with cream cheese--I use a hand mixer, until well-mixed and fluffy. Serve on sandwiches, bagels, or toasted baguette.

Note: Use any leftover cranberry sauce (fresh is better than canned) or make your own. (I use a cup of cranberries, the juice and zest of 1 large orange, and 1/4 cup agave syrup, cooked over medium-low heat about 15 minutes until cranberries pop). If cranberry sauce is too thick or two chunky, puree for a few seconds until smooth.

It's a bit quiet here in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week with the holiday and all but we do have a few friends who stopped by to share their recipes.

Heather from girlichef is here with her (everything but the) Kitchen Sink Soup, one of those serendipitous delicious creations that come about when you pull together the bounty from a good pantry and fridge clean out. This soup has tons of ingredients, ground beef, chopped, ham, vegetables, beans, tomatoes, pasta and then is topped with cheese, sour cream, parsley, cilantro and chives. A perfect filling, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup.

Chaya from Sweet and Savory Says It All and Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog is here with two soups, one from each blog this week. Her first soup is a slow cooker Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup. Chaya says, "For a cold winter night, this is just the soup. It is warm and creamy and soothing. It's smoothness creates a feeling of comfort.There is a tinge or sweetness from the sweet potato and carrots that rounds off the flavor beautifully. There is a bit of spice in the taste from the black pepper. This is a delicious soup, has a subtle sweet taste, yet hearty. We planned on a small plate for each of us but we finished the pot. This is one of those recipes that should be made and made again."

Chaya also has a Vegetable Soup to share, based on a Beef Vegetable Soup recipe from Paula Deen. About this soup she says, "We are really cutting back on meat so I chose to make a vegetable soup without the meat. With lots of vegetables, the soup is chock full and the lack of meat is not causing a lack of flavor. My husband insisted, he tasted beef but this is a beef-less soup. I thought it could use more spice. Regardless, we both think this is a good soup, one easily adjusted to your specific taste."

Finally we have some hearty and gorgeous California Club Sandwiches from Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. She says, "This week I baked up Peter Reinhart's Pain a l'Ancienne for the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. They won't win any beauty contests, the slabs of wet dough are just thrown onto the parchment and stretched into a baguette-like shape. They are a little like ciabatta, but even tastier. What they do make, the ones that survive the many taste testings, two got eaten as-is...is wonderful sammies! Mmm, that is a little bit of heaven, right there!"

So what we lack in quantity this week, we make up for in quality! Thanks to Heather, Chaya and Natashya for joining in. If you have a soup, salad, sandwich or combination that you want to share, click on the logo on the side bar for all of the details.

Just one more day of blogging 30 posts in 30 days for NaBloPoMo! Which also means one for day until it is December--yikes!

Have a great week!