This soup is hands down one of my favourite new recipes- It’s easy, uses ingredients you have around the kitchen and was so yummy! These were all good things considering when I first added the rice to the broth, the whole thing turned purple and I panicked just a little! Purple soup would have been a hard sell, even in our house. Luckily the purple hue faded to a nice dark brothy colour once all the other ingredients got going and we have a recipe I can actually share.
This is supposed to be a rustic, homestyle soup, so roughly chop the veggies so they will cook evenly but don’t worry about perfection. I always think it looks better if it’s not all perfect cubes anyways.
The brilliance of soups is that they are both forgiving and flexible. No turkey leftovers? Try leftover chicken or pick up a roast chicken from the store in a pinch. By keeping the skin on the potatoes, and using a whole grain rice we add a lot of fibre to the soup and make it super filling (a bonus if you are trying to lighten up after all the indulging over the holidays).
Don’t be afraid of the bit of chili powder, this is not a spicy soup but that powder adds a great depth of flavour you don’t want to miss! Same goes for the chili flakes. Feel free to dial down the amounts a touch if you have someone in your home who is picky about heat.
8 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/8 tsp Mexican chili powder
1/8 tsp red chili flakes
½ onion (with skin on, not sliced or chopped up)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled.
¼ cup wild rice or black japonica rice (I used black rice, but regular wild rice would work just as well)
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped in to ½ inch chunks
2 cups mixed new potatoes, skin on and quartered (feel free to use whatever potatoes you have on hand)
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (~1/4 inch) ( I used a mix of crimini and white mushrooms, but use whatever is in your fridge)
2 cups cooked turkey, roughly shredded
1 cup Italian (flat leaf) parsley, roughly chopped
Pepper, to taste (I used about 1/8 tsp)
Put the onion, stock and garlic cloves in a large pot. Bring your stock up to a boil over high heat. Add the rice and turn the heat down so the stock is simmering (about medium to medium high depending on your stove). Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After the rice has simmered for 10 minutes add the carrots and potatoes and continue to simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes. Add the mushrooms and turkey and turn down the heat to a gentler simmer (medium to medium low heat). Simmer for about 10 minutes and remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley and pepper.
Taste and check that there is enough pepper, and at this point add a tiny bit of salt if needed. It will depend on the broth you use.
Yield: ~8 cups
Time: ~ 1hour total, ~20 minutes active time (chopping, adding ingredients, adjusting heat).
