Turkey-Bacon Bean Soup

Turkey-bacon Bean Soup.

Yesterday was certainly a good day for soup.  It was rainy, windy and very cold.  So I made this Bean Soup using a recipe from Cooking at Home with Dan Eaton.


                                                           Turkey-Bacon Bean Soup
SERVES: 6-8
INGREDIENTS:
• 6 slices turkey bacon, diced
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil for crisping bacon
• 1 cup peeled, diced carrot
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil for cooking vegetables
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 drained 15-ounce cans white beans (such as navy or great Northern)
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion or rough parsley (optional)
• black pepper to taste (and salt if needed)

PROCEDURE:
1. Cut all the vegetables you need before heading to the stove and then add a splash of vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed soup pot and crisp up 6 diced slices of turkey bacon.
2. Take the crispy bacon out of the pan, add another splash of vegetable oil to the pot and add about 1 cup diced, peeled carrot, about 1 cup diced onion, 1/2 cup diced celery, 2 minced cloves of garlic and add a sprinkling of dried thyme.

Diced carrots, onions and celery.

Diced turkey bacon.

3. While you're keeping your eye on the vegetables and stirring them around occasionally, take a minute to drain three 15-ounce cans of navy beans.

Navy Beans.

Drain three cans of white beans.

4. Once the onions are translucent, add 4 cups chicken broth and add the drained white beans, stir those in, and bring it up to a simmer.

Add chicken stock.

5. Then adjust the heat on that so it's gently simmering along for 10 - 15 minutes.
6. At that point you could use a potato masher to gently mash the beans up a little bit, or use a hand blender to give it a somewhat smooth, somewhat chunky consistency.

Fold in bacon.

7. Then fold in the crispy bacon and an optional handful of chopped green onion and season it to taste with a little salt if it needs it and a good crack of black pepper and it's good to go.

Fold in green onions.

Ready to eat.

This was most welcome on a cold day like yesterday. 

Turkey Brown Rice Soup

The leftovers are actually what I like best about Thanksgiving dinner---especially the leftover turkey that makes a nice rich soup.  Here's my soup recipe for this year.  I always make the turkey soup a little different each year, and this year I used brown rice along with the usual veggies.

Turkey Rice Soup

Ingredients:
1 turkey carcass
8 c water
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted with no salt added.)
turkey

Break up turkey carcass to fit into large Dutch oven.  Add water, pepper and bay leaf.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for an hour and a half.

Remove bones from broth; cool and remove turkey from bones.  Cut turkey into bite-size
pieces.  Strain broth.  Add rice, celery, onions and carrots to broth.  Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes until rice and vegetables are tender.  Stir in tomatoes and turkey and heat until hot.  Remove bay leaf and serve.

This freezes well and will come in handy on a cold winter evening for a quick supper.

Serves 8

Turkey broth.

Add veggies.

Add brown rice which gives the soup a nice nutty texture and flavor.

Add no salt added tomatoes.

Add turkey, heat and serve.

The soup served with a piece of toast with cream cheese spread.

We'll have several frozen servings for this winter.  The brown rice in this soup gives it a nice nutty taste and texture.