Leftover Turkey Soup

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 3 to 4 cups of turkey or chicken
• 1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp crushed dried rosemary
• 1/2 cup brown or wild rice
• 1 cup of half & half
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a 6-quart saucepan or pot, heat the butter and oil until hot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, thyme and rosemary and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are slightly tender, 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the broth, rice, salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the rice is tender. The exact time will depend on variety of rice and package directions. For a brown and wild rice blend, the time will be about 30 minutes.
3. Whisk together or blend the half and half and flour until smooth and there are no lumps. Stir the flour mixture into the soup, whisking quickly, and simmer gently until slightly thickened, 5-6 minutes.
4. Stir in the cooked turkey and heat through. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Serve.

Notes

• Brown Rice: long grain brown rice, jasmine or basmati brown rice, or a brown rice blend work great in this soup. You can also sub white rice or a wild and brown rice blend. The key is to adjust the simmering time based on the variety of rice you are using.
• Substitute Silk Heavy Cream for half & half to make it lactose
• Yes, you can use leftover cooked chicken if you don’t have turkey.
• Half and half: you can sub in milk for the half and half (although the soup won’t be quite as silky and creamy). I suggest using 1% or 2% (not skim).