Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

If you haven't used up all of your Thanksgiving leftovers yet....this is a wonderful soup recipe that should do the trick!  It uses cooked leftover turkey, leftover carrots ( from dinner and from the raw veg tray), leftover celery ( from the veg tray), leftover corn ( from dinner), leftover fresh herbs ( from the turkey and the stuffing that you didn't use up), and all that chicken broth you overbought "just in case"!  lol    I didn't have a turkey carcass at my disposal, but you could certainly add that to enhance the broth if you have one.  And if you don't have the leftovers to make this soup, you could start from scratch too!



There is no denying it....soup is a great bargain for the weight conscious eater!   What a great way to get back on track after Thanksgiving!

The real secret to this soup is the Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice original recipe rice mix.  The seasonings in this rice are wonderful and help flavor the soup nicely.   Just had some for lunch on this cold and snowy Ohio day!

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

from the kitchen of MKA

Printable Recipe

Servings - approx. 16   Serving size - approx. 1 1/2 cup   Points Plus per serving - 3 Points+

Calories - 115.5,   Total Fat - 1.7g,   Carb. - 17.7g,   Protein - 8.1g,   Fiber - 1.8g

1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice Original Recipe

1 TBS olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chopped celery ( use the leafy parts too if you have them ) 

2 cups raw cut carrots OR 2 cups cooked carrot slices

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 fresh bay leaves ( or one dried bay leaf ) 

1 - 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups sliced and then roughly chopped fresh mushrooms ( I sometimes get the presliced ones to save time and they are often sliced way too big...so I just run the knife though them to make them rough chopped) 

2 - (32 oz.) boxes of low sodium, fat free chicken stock

1 cup leftover corn kernels OR 1 cup frozen corn kernels

2 cups diced, cooked turkey breast meat

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley  

juice of half a lemon

1.  Prepare the rice according to pkg directions WITHOUT adding any fat ( butter or olive oil).  Cook the rice until it is almost done ( 15 - 20 min).  It's ok if there is still a lot of liquid.  Take off heat and set aside. 

2.  In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over med-high heat.  Add the onion, celery, and raw carrots, if using.  If you are using cooked carrots, you will add them later.  Cook for 5 - 6 minutes or until they start to soften.  Add in the garlic, bay leaf ( leaves), and thyme and cook for 1 more minute.  Add in the mushrooms.  Allow mushrooms to start to soften, 2 - 3 minutes.  Add in all of the chicken stock. 

3.  Cover the pot loosely and allow the soup to come to a boil.  Turn down to simmer.  Simmer, loosely covered until the vegetables are soft.  ( 15 - 20 minutes or so)  Add in the reserved rice mixture, cooked or frozen corn, cooked carrots ( if using cooked ones), parsley and turkey.   Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Continue to simmer until heated through.  Squeeze half a lemon into the soup.  Remove bay leaf ( leaves).   Enjoy! 

At our house, on Thanksgiving, we not only have turkey, but we also have a Spiral Sliced Honeybaked Ham each year.  One of my favorite ways to use up the leftover ham and the ham bone is making my Classic Ham and Bean Soup...but I also like to make a ham salad spread.  It's so easy.  I don't have the exact measurements for this recipe, so I can't tell you what the nutrition information is...but I can tell you, it is delicious! 

It's super easy too!  Just pulse some leftover ham slices in the food processor until ground up.  Remove to a bowl.  Add one or two stalks of roughly cut celery and pulse until finely diced.  Add the celery to the ham in the bowl, along with some light mayo, some sweet pickle relish and just a bit of horseradish sauce.  OMG...I dream about this spread!  The boys all love it too.