Post-Thanksgiving: The only thing left to make was...

We ate most of our Thanksgiving dishes this year (for the first time ever, I did not make too much of any one dish and sent leftovers home with family). So, with very little remnants of Thanksgiving left in the refrigerator, I decided to whip up some turkey soup. 

Super easy "assembling" of this dish:

• Several cups of veggie, turkey or chicken stock (I think I used 8 cups, maybe more)
• bay leaf
• 3 carrots (chopped)
• 3 celery ribs (chopped)
• onions, garlic, thyme (to taste)
• 1 cup (dry) of mini pastina, whole wheat
• a few handfuls of kale
• 2 cans of white beans, rinsed and drained
• leftover turkey meat

In the stockpot, I tossed in some oil, the onions, carrots, and the celery. Let those cook a bit on medium heat until the onions were translucent.  I added the bay leaf and the thyme and made sure they were incorporated in the veggie/oil mixture.

I then added my stock, brought it to a rapid boil for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, then brought it down to a simmer. Remove the bay leaf at this time.

I added the pastina, stirring to make sure none stuck to the bottom of the pot. Once the pastina was cooked (about 4-5 minutes), I added the white beans. I also added the leftover turkey meat at this time. From there, I tossed in the handfulls of kale until they wilted and turned bright green.

The best bet is to allow this soup to mellow for at least 24 hours.  Allow the soup to come to room temperature on the stovetop and then refrigerate until ready to enjoy at dinner the next day.  The starches have then broken down and will give the soup more heft. 

Top the soup with grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy with a crusty piece of bread (or leftover stuffing).

This soup can be made vegan f you stick with veggie stock and remove the turkey meat from the recipe. Either version is incredibly enjoyable.



Turkey version


Vegan version