Day After Thanksgiving Soup

This year's Thanksgiving festivities were decidedly low-key. In fact, I like to think of it as "the ghost of Thanksgivings to come" - Jack and I dressed in pajama pants and eating dinner on TV trays while watching the football game. The only thing missing to complete this nursing home scenario was the kindly caregiver periodically checking to make sure we hadn't choked on our turkey. 
Since it was just the two of us this year, I decided to forgo roasting an entire turkey and settled for a 3-pound turkey breast which I slathered a with a paste of olive oil, garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme and roasted for about three hours in a 350 degree oven. It was wonderfully moist and infused with all the flavors of Thanksgiving. Two different types of stuffing, a sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie and apple pie completed the meal. So okay, maybe the food wasn't low-key (since I seemed to spend just as much time in the kitchen as I typically do on Thanksgiving) but it was our approach to eating it that was different. 
Typical of Thanksgiving was the amount of leftovers and the yearly challenge of what to heck to do with them. Of course you've got the hot turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie and turkey casserole and some kind of soup. This year, I created a creamy soup that includes all the tastes of Thanksgiving in one big pot - my "Day After Thanksgiving Soup." It's a nice way to use up some of the mashed potatoes, gravy and turkey and the best part - it's quick to put together. After all, who wants to spend another three hours in the kitchen the day after Thanksgiving? 
Day After Thanksgiving Soup
Makes about 4 servings (2 cups per serving)
Ingredients
1 TBSP canola oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 strips of bacon, chopped
3 cups of chicken broth
3 cups of chopped turkey
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup of turkey gravy
Preparation
1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. 
2. Add onion, celery, bacon and cook until veggies are soft and bacon is cooked (about 6 minutes.
3. Add broth, gravy, turkey, potatoes and poultry seasoning. Stir with a whisk until blended and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.  

The Next Campbell's Soup Contender

All the hoopla of Thanksgiving is over and, like every year, I struggle to find things to do with the leftovers that are stacked so neatly in my refrigerator. Sure, it’s easy to have Thanksgiving again the day after Thanksgiving (and maybe even the day after that) but you’ve got to get creative after about the third or fourth day when those seemingly bottomless storage containers of turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes are no longer your friends.

A nice soup is a quick and easy way to get rid of some of the turkey. The jumping off point for this soup came from a recipe from a cookbook titled, unsurprisingly “The Taste of Home’s Big Book of Soup.”  With a title like that and more than 300 pages of soup, stew and chili recipes, I was bound to find a recipe that would help me deplete my never-ending turkey supply.

Instead of my usual turkey noodle soup, I thought I’d go a little crazy and make turkey rice soup. Wacky, huh?  I found a recipe for a creamy chicken rice soup, substituted the chicken for turkey and tossed in a couple of extra ingredients and came up with this absolutely fantastic Creamy Turkey Rice Soup. Once the Campbell’s Soup people get wind of this recipe, I’m sure they’re going to be contacting me to see if I’d be interested in having my Creamy Turkey Rice Soup wear their red and white label.  Just think of it – my humble little soup tucked in on the grocery store shelf next to the classics – Tomato, Chicken Noodle and Vegetable Beef.  The next thing you know my Creamy Turkey Rice Soup will be in lunchboxes everywhere.

But until that happens, give my recipe a try and make this soup an after-Thanksgiving tradition.  I know it’s going to become one in my kitchen.

Creamy Turkey Rice Soup

Ingredients

½ cup chopped carrot

½ cup onion, finely chopped

½ cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup flour

2 cans of chicken broth (14.5 oz)

1 envelope dry chicken gravy mix

2 cups cubed cooked turkey

2 cups cooked long grain white rice

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ tsp thyme

¼ tsp garlic powder

1 ½ cup 2% milk

2 tbsp white wine

In a large stockpot, sauté the carrot, onion and celery in the butter and olive oil until tender. Blend in the flour and gradually stir in the chicken broth and dry gravy mix.  Cook for  1-2 minutes.

Add the turkey, rice and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the soup thickens, stirring frequently to prevent rice from sticking. Reduce heat to low and stir in the milk and the white wine. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes or until heated through.

Makes about 6 servings