Ground Turkey and Butternut Squash Soup

Ground White Turkey with Vegetables and Butternut Squash Soup

Cooked Ground Turkey Mixture Served with Cooked Brown Rice

Quick meal utilizing leftovers

How I prepared three meals from one main recipe and enjoyed every one of them!

On a cool, rainy day I decided to prepare my favorite fall soup recipe, Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup.

Here is the link to this recipe from my Blog:

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8505913197660197866#editor/target=post;postID=3500940049654445869

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

(smooth, creamy and non-dairy)

Spices in my Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

These Spices bring intense flavor and heat to the pureed soup.

With leftover soup for the next day, I wanted to prepare a hearty dinner using the leftover soup so I got the idea to cook some ground white meat turkey (can use ground beef instead if you choose), saute some onions, carrots, celery and red peppers making a larger amount of the mixture to serve to the family. The sauce, leftover cooked soup from the refrigerator, was added to the ground turkey mixture, warmed up with the ground turkey and vegetables. This mixture now became a thick, hearty, flavorful meal with very little effort during the cooking process.

Now with the larger amount of cooked, ground turkey mixture, I still had some for leftovers the next day and served this with a side dish of cooked brown rice. Yum!!!

How wonderful to use one soup recipe for three separate meals! A little creativity and having produce in the refrigerator and meat on hand in the freezer makes cooking at home enjoyable and rewarding. I might add the word "impressive" to those tasting these meals for the first time. 



Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

My new photo of Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup (non-dairy) (The Souper 2012)

What do you do when there is a brisk chilly feel to the outside air and the wind is howling around the house but it is brilliantly sunny outside? You make soup, of course!
I took out from my refrigerator the very basics for a good hearty, spicy vegetable soup. There was a half of a large butternut squash sitting quietly in my refrigerator along with a large bag of carrots. I discovered a half of a large onion just waiting to jump into a food creation of mine. Supporting the major components of this throw-together soup are my spices always ready to flavor-up a dish.
With a full stock of staples in the pantry, I of course had a box of low-sodium chicken broth to blend into a pot of soup or rice stirfry sidedish.
There you have it. Chopping the vegetables, adding seasonings and broth blends into the most satisfying, creamy tummy-warming soup in just about one half an hour. Yes, from the chop to the blend I was eating not one but two bowls of this velvety smooth liquid meal in under an hour! How wonderful is that?
With the basic kitchen skills and tools, you too can impress yourself as well as your loved ones with a healthy, nutritious pleasure.

Prep time about five minutes. Cooking time about one half an hour.
Serving suggestions: Add soup crackers, or small cooked pasta to a bowl of soup. (If you can tolerate dairy, grate some melting cheese on top of the soup or a tiny bit of cream.)

What you will need:
Cutting board, large
Kitchen knife
Vegetable peeler
Small bowls for chopped vegetables
Large pot with matching cover
Wood spoon
Large soup spoon
Measuring spoons
Pot holders
Immersion blender or food processor (even a blender if soup is cooled.)

Ingredients:
Canola or Olive Oil, 3 tablespoons
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 large butternut squash, cubed into small pieces
2 medium carrots, washed, peeled and cut into thin discs
1 box, 32 ounces of low-sodium chicken broth. (Swanson's)
Kosher salt, add during cooking and flavor cooked soup
(about 1 teaspoon during cooking onions, 1 teaspoon when butternut squash and carrots added to the cooking onions. Add 1 teaspoon if needed when soup is finished cooking and still in the pot if more flavoring is needed.)
Crushed black pepper, 1-2 teaspoons during the cooking process
Turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon on top of the cooking butternut squash and carrots
Smoked Papika, 1/2 teaspoon on top of the cooking butternut squash and carrots.

The process:
Wash, peel, cut the carrots and set aside until needed
Peel butternut squash and cut into small pieces
Peel the onion and chop into small pieces and set aside until needed
Peel clove of garlic and crush into small pieces
Add the oil into the large pot and put on the stove burner turned on medium-high heat
Add the chopped onions, some salt and stir with the wooden spoon often.
When the cooking onions look shiny and appear to be softer in texture, add the crushed garlic and keep stirring with the wooden spoon often.
Quickly add the cut butternut squash and cut carrots into the cooking mixture and keep stirring around often with the wooden spoon.
Add more salt, add crushed black pepper as well as the turmeric and smoked paprika and keep stirring with the wood spoon.
When the cooking vegetables appear to be softer, slowly add the chicken broth and keep stirring the mixture.
Reduce the heat under the pot to a low setting, cover slightly with the matching cover.
Check on the cooking soup in about 25-30 minutes, taste a little bit with the clean, large soup spoon and add more salt or crushed black pepper to your personal taste.
The flavors come together with a correct balance of seasonings. (Your tastebus will tell you if more seasonings are needed.)
With the stove burner off, use the immersion blender slowly to blend the cooked chunks of vegetables into a smooth, velvety texture.
If using a food processor or blender, let the soup cool a bit before blending.

Spice Swirl Soup

Colorful Ingredients in Spice Swirl Soup

Hearty, spicy and comforting. Soup base is non-dairy and gluten-free. Can be totally vegetarian by using vegetable broth. This recipe utilizes basic cooking techniques of roasting, pureeing and heating on stovetop. The best way to enjoy veggies.

Bowl of Roasted Vegetable Soup

Recipe Prep:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Food processor (or blender)
Large spoon or spatula
Wooden spoon
Kitchen knife
Vegetable peeler
Cutting board
Pot holders
Large soup pot with matching lid
Measuring cup
Two, large rimmed baking sheets
Parchment paper (for easy clean up)
Assorted veggies to roast

Floating The Spices While Soup Is Cooking In The Pot:
Before "The Swirl" Through The Soup

Ingredents:
Olive oil
Eggplant, small to medium, washed, peeled and cubed
Butternut squash, one small or half of large, peeled and cubed
Carrots, two or three, washed, peeled and cut into disc shapes
Red pepper, one large (washed, seeds taken out, cut into small pieces)
Onion, one large(Vidalia or red onion; peeled and sliced in strips)
Garlic, two cloves, not peeled and left whole
Chicken broth, three cups, boxed or canned, low-sodium
Water, 3-4 cups, cold
Spices: one teaspoon, dried, of the following
Cumin, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, ginger, Kosher salt.
Red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon
Bay leaves, two whole dried leaves
Kosher salt, added during the cooking process for personal taste.

Preparing to make Spice Swirl Soup:
After the veggies have been washed, dried and cut, put them on the lined baking sheets in one layer so they will roast more efficiently.
Drizzle the cut veggies with some olive oil before roasting.
Sprinkle the veggies with Kosher salt also before roasting.
Roast the veggies in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes, until browned.

When veggies have cooled from roasting, puree them in small batches in a food processor or blender along with some of the chicken or vegetable broth (one or the other.) Note: peel the roasted garlic and add to food processor.
After puree of each batch of roasted veggies, put the mixture into large soup pot.
Add remaining water, bay leaves and bring to low boil with cover on the pot.
Once the soup is boiling, turn heat down to low.
Add the spices to float on top of the soup in colorful piles and then with a wooden spoon, begin to slowly swirl around through the spices to blend them into the cooking soup.
Keep tasting the soup and adjust flavor to your liking by adding additional salt. (easier to correct flavor while cooking than adding too much salt at the beginning of the cooking process.)Salt helps with the blending of all the spice flavors.
When the soup is heated sufficiently, it is ready to serve in individual bowls.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with hearty tortilla chips, melting cheese, homemade croutons.
Add any cooked protein leftovers such as: chicken, sausage, ground beef, sauteed shrimp. This makes a complete meal-in-a-bowl.

Spice Swirl Soup tastes even better the next day. Have extra chicken or vegetable broth to loosen the thickened soup or just add more water. This soup freezes well, too.

Enjoy,
The Souper
Spice Swirl Soup