I love love love making soup all through the cold winter months.
There is something so homey about a pot of something warm and delicious on the stove, it’s easy to pack with good nutrition, and as an added bonus it’s a great way to use up all the produce that is teetering on being unwelcome in your fridge!
The ONLY downside about soup as a meal is that sometimes I am starving again not too long after. Especially since Mark & I just started a healthy eating regime a week ago and now all I do is think about food every minute of the day 🙂
I like this soup because the protein from the ground turkey makes it more satisfying and keeps you full longer, it’s packed with flavor, and it’s still pretty healthy! (To make it even better you can substitute the Basmati rice for quinoa or barley. I’m taking baby steps.)
INGREDIENTS
1 each – shallot, celery stalk and carrot (or a handful of baby carrots)
pinch of crushed red pepper
8 oz. ground turkey
15 oz. can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup Basmati rice
heaping teaspoon honey
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach (3-4 cups)
pinch of salt if needed
DIRECTIONS
Chop the shallot, celery and carrot.
Swirl a bit of olive oil in a pan, add the vegetables and crushed red pepper, and sauté over medium heat until shallots are translucent.
Push veggies to side of pan and add ground turkey, using a spatula to break it up, and cook until browned.
Add the chicken broth and diced tomatoes, turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil.
Add rice, turn heat down to medium-low and allow to simmer until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes.
Stir in honey
(it cuts the acidity of the tomato and complements the crushed red pepper).
Add the fresh spinach and allow to wilt, stirring occasionally.
It’s amazing how this huge amount of spinach………
Taste and add salt if necessary
(I always add salt at the end because the chicken stock has salt in it – a soup that is too salty is the worst!!!)
The end result is so flavorful and satisfying!!
And you can pat yourself on the back for all those great veggies you packed into a meal!
My kids only like basic soups like chicken noodle or tomato (with a grilled cheese on the side, of course) so I make small batches of these kinds of soups for myself and Mark if he’s home for lunch, and I’ll often throw some in a jar to drop off to my mom.
Homemade soup is really so easy – you can customize it anyway you want and control the ingredients to make it healthy. You can also freeze it in small batches for later by letting it fully cool and then ladling into freezer zip loc bags.
For more tips on freezing soup visit this post at The Kitchn.
