Quick And Tasty Turkey Rice Soup.

There’s been many requests for recipe ideas on putting leftover turkey to use, so I thought I’d share one that’s very simple, super-quick and very tasty. This turkey rice soup makes use of ingredients you may already have in your fridge and you can put it together in under 30 minutes, as I know you’d hate to be in the kitchen for too long after preparing all that food on Christmas day.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked turkey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8-12 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup parboiled long grain brown rice
1 large carrot (cubed)
2 scallions (chopped)
4 sprigs thyme
1-2 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
1 large onion
2 stalks celery (diced)
1 bird’s eye pepper (aka bird pepper)
1/2 teaspoon salt (see note below)
1-2 cups baby spinach (optional)
Important: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the chicken stock. Remember that most stocks will be loaded with sodium, so adjust the salt near the end of cooking.

• prep the ingredients
• put your soup pot on a medium flame and go in with the olive oil
• add the onion, celery, carrot, thyme, black pepper, salt, bird pepper (optional) and scallions
• turn the heat down to low and cook for about 4-5 minutes
• you can now add the diced (or shredded) turkey (white and dark meat.. make use of what you have left)
• after 2 minutes (after adding the turkey and giving it a good stir) turn up the heat and add the chicken stock – bring to a boil
• wash the rice and add it to the pot
• cook for 20 minutes and you’re done on a rolling boil (med/low flame)
• check for salt near the end and adjust to your liking
• as you turn off the stove, you can go in with the baby spinach and let the residual heat to cook it gently

Please keep in mind that the rice may seem like a little when you first add it, but as it cooks (and cools later) it will plump and thicken up considerably. If you don’t have the bird’s eye pepper, you’re free to leave it out or use any pepper you have on hand. Even pepper flakes would work. You may also top your bowl of this comforting turkey rice soup with some grated Parmesan cheese if you wish.

Do give this gluten free soup recipe a try and be sure to personalize it a bit more to your liking.