Turkey and Stuffing Soup

I set out to make another use-em-up leftover soup with the final slices of now-dry turkey, some fresh celery and carrots, and some white rice left from a Chinese-food lunch today -- because what is more after-Turkey Day normal than turkey-rice soup?

At the last minute, I spotted the cup and a half of stuffing from Thanksgiving Day and decided to swap it for the rice. The result was a tasty thickened stew, perfect for a cold December night with the threat (promise) of snow in the air. The stuffing seasoning mingled well with the Better Than Bouillon broth.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Better Than Bouillon (BTB) Roasted Turkey Broth

1/2 cup carrot, diced medium

1/2 cup celery, sliced medium

1/2 to 1.5 cups leftover turkey meat, diced small

1 to 2 cups leftover bread*-based stuffing

*Cornbread-based stuffing might work, but I haven't tried it. I  leave that as an exercise for the reader.

ASSEMBLY

In a slow cooker set to Low, stir the BTB Roasted Turkey into 3 cups of boiling water to create the broth. Add the chopped vegetables and meat, and cover the pot. It should cook on Low for at least 4 hours to combine the flavors and soften the carrots.

In the last 15 minutes, stir in the stuffing, and recover the pot. The goal is to soak broth into the stuffing, and warm the stuffing to the best eating temperature of the soup.

Serve as soon as the broth absorption is complete. 

I have yet to try re-heating this soup. Both times I've made it, there was nothing left over. And that's great, for a soup made of leftovers.

Easy Pork and Bean Soup

 

This is another slow-cooker soup that comes together easily, and takes advantage of added leftovers and the slow simmer of a crock-pot to create a soup that tastes hand-crafted. Yet, like many of my favorite recipes, it starts with "open a can of..."

This particular iteration was built on a base can of Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup, with leftover pork from a tenderloin roast, and some additional carrot and celery.

Other *meat additions that have worked for this soup in the past are ham or bacon, even dark-meat chicken or turkey. For **vegetables, I almost always add carrot and celery, and when I have them, leftover roasted roots (although not beets). And while they don't suit my palate, I think adding fine-chopped onion or red/green/yellow peppers would also serve. For these, as well as for the raw carrot and celery I added here, you may need an extra amount of water to ensure they are cooked.

This recipe serves two with a generous bowl of soup for each. For more servings, simply increase the amounts.

INGREDIENTS

1 can Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup

Can (and a third) of water

*Four to five slices from roasted pork tenderloin, diced small, for a cup to a cup and a half of diced meat

**Carrots and celery, raw, diced/sliced, about 1 cup of extra raw vegetables 

ASSEMBLY 

In the slow-cooker crock, dump the contents of the soup can, then add the can of water called for by the can instructions. Since we're adding raw vegetables, we'll also add an extra 1/3 can of water.

Dice the *added meat small, add to crock.

Dice **added carrots small to medium (to taste), add to crock. Slice celery into thin crescents (across the stalk). I like the stronger-flavored darker celery stalks for this purpose.

Stir enough to break up the soup concentrate, and set the slow-cooker control to Low. 

This soup is best if cooked on Low for 4.5 to 5 hours, but you can shortcut by cooking on High for an hour, then turn to Low for another hour. (If you have added only cooked meats and vegetables, one hour on High is sufficient.)

Serve the finished soup into bowls and enjoy!