Wandering Chopsticks: Vietnamese Food, Recipes, and More: Turkey Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Friday, December 02, 2011

Turkey Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Now that you've made Turkey Stock, you can make soup. I've made Turkey Vegetable Soup plenty of times, but decided to go a little fancy by adding quinoa and some of my favorite vegetables such as, chayote squash, turnips, and leeks.

Quinoa, the Bolivian grain that's gained popularity, is packed with protein so you won't even miss the meat. You can swap out the turkey broth for vegetable broth and easily make this vegetarian.

I chop vegetables and add them to the pot as I go along, so the key is to start with harder vegetables that take longer to cook first. Then by the time I add in the tomatoes, I can enjoy a bowl of soup while waiting for the rest of the pot to cook.

Turkey Quinoa Vegetable Soup

For a 5-quart pot of soup, you'll need:
Turkey Stock
1 large onion, diced
1 leek, diced
1 turnip, diced
2 chayote squash, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/4 head cabbage, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup quinoa

Of course, you don't have to go with the vegetables I've used, feel free to substitute with your favorites.

I start by cutting off the roots and peeling the necessary vegetables.

Cut off the roots and slice the leeks. I usually let leeks soak for a little while and then triple wash to make sure I remove all the dirt. Drain and set aside.

I always start with the aromatics. Dice the onion.

In a 5-quart stock pot on medium-high heat, drizzle a bit of olive oil and add the diced onion.

Then the leek.

While the onion and leek are cooking, watch the pot and stir every so often while in between dicing the turnip.

Add the turnip to the pot.

I used to peel chayote squash, but dislike the film it leaves on my hands. The skin is pretty thin though, so now I don't bother. Slice down the center and remove the seed. Then dice. Add the chayote to the pot too.

Dice two small carrots and add them to the pot.

Then add the turkey stock. If you have any leftover turkey meat, you can add it too if you wish.

Fill the soup pot until it's about two-thirds full to allow room for the rest of the vegetables.

Add the diced celery and tomatoes.

And about a quarter of a head of cabbage.

Give the pot a stir and add more turkey stock if there's room.

Add 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp ground black pepper and 1 tsp salt, if needed.

Stir to mix the seasonings.

I scooped out a bowl of the vegetable soup to enjoy right away.

Then add 1 cup of quinoa. Lightly cover the pot and simmer for about half an hour or more until the quinoa is cooked and the vegetables have softened to your liking.