Turkey and Pepper Stew

After cooking up our whole turkey last week, I was looking for fun ways to use it up!  I saw this recipe for Turkey Stew with Peppers from Simply Recipes and quickly skimmed the ingredient list thinking it would be great for dinner.

When dinner time rolled around I read the list more carefully and discovered we did not have all the ingredients.  Who knew Hungarian Paprika wasn't a spice rack staple.  Improv time!

We love what came out of the inspiration from Simply Recipes -- thanks, Elise!

Turkey and Pepper Stew - Inspired by Simply Recipes

3 medium bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
8oz mushrooms, quartered
1 T minced onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 C cubed turkey, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 C chicken broth, divided
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 T corn starch
three shakes of paprika
two shakes of rosemary
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Begin by sauting the mushrooms and peppers together in a large skillet.  If the mixture is too dry, add 1 T chicken broth.

When the mushrooms have released their liquid, add the paprika, minced garlic cloves and the onion flakes.

Continue cooking the veggies until liquids have absorbed.  Then, add in 1/2 C chicken broth and diced, cooked turkey.  Simmer until liquids are just about absorbed.

Add in the diced tomatoes, undrained.

Season with lemon juice, pepper, sea salt and rosemary.

Simmer until the liquids are almost gone.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining chicken broth with 1 1/2 T corn starch.  Stir until corn starch is dissolved into solution {oops, science lingo here...}, and no clumps remain.

Reduce the simmering mixture to low, and pour in the corn starch mixture.  Stir to combine and allow the corn starch to thicken the pepper dish.

Remove from the heat, and serve warm!

It would be delicious over brown rice and paired with peas.

Have you ever come to dinner time only to find you don't have the ingredients you need?  Did you improvise? Change the recipe?  I'd love to hear your solutions.



Linked to: What's on Your Plate, Feasting in Fellowship Friday, I'm Lovin' It

Garden Minestrone

The creators of this recipe claim it's a copy cat of Olive Garden's Minestrone Soup, which is an all-time favorite of mine.

While this soup is excellent, it's not quite a copy cat of my favorite soup.  It actually reminds me a bit of Progresso's Vegetable Soup, which I used to eat frequently before we started making everything from scratch.

Whether you think it aligns with one of these well-known soups or not, this is a fast, easy and healthy soup recipe that we'll certainly be making again.  One bowl serving is under 300 calories and less than 1.5g of fat!

Garden Minestrone - Adapted from Food.Com

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, quartered
1 C frozen green beans
1 stalk celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 C vegetable broth
1 can Great White Northern Beans, rinsed and drained*
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
1/2 C shredded carrot {I used 1 medium carrot, sliced}
1/2 tsp. parsley
1 1/4 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
~2 C hot water
1/4 C red wine
3 C fresh spinach
1/2 C small shell pasta

*You can add another can of beans if you wish, red kidney is recommended

Begin by tossing the veggies into the bottom of your crockpot.  My crockpot is a 4 quart, and this recipe fills it up!  I'd recommend using a larger crockpot, if you have one.  If not, don't add the water while the dish is cooking.  Add the hot water before serving.

Anyway, back to the recipe.  Combine those veggies.

Pour in the vegetable broth.  

Add in the diced tomatoes.  I love salt free and petite diced.  

Add the tomato paste to the mix as well.  

Next up, add the spices.  Reduce the salt even more if your broth is salty and/or your tomatoes are salted.  No need for extra sodium.  

Pour in the beans.  

Add the minced garlic.  

Stir to mix.   

Add in the red wine.  If your crockpot is large enough, add the hot water at this point too.  Mine was not large enough, so I reserved the water and mixed it upon serving.

Close the lid and call it a day.  Cook the soup on low for 6-10 hours.  30 minutes before serving, turn the crockpot to high and add the pasta and spinach.  

Serve the soup warm, garnished with Parmesan cheese, of course.  That's what they do at Olive Garden.  

I ended up adding ~1/8-1/4 C hot water to everyone's bowl.  The water was a great addition, and I added cold water so that we could eat the soup right away without waiting for it to cool down for 10 minutes.  Those crockpots keep things hot!

Have you ever tried a copy cat recipe?  How did it turn out?



Linked to: What's on Your Plate?  

Roasted Vegetable Minestrone

Wowee! This soup is delicious.

It should be.

It originally came from the Pioneer Woman, and she doesn't disappoint.  As always, I modified her recipe to meet our family's favorites, and we absolutely lived this soup.

The roasted veggies were brilliant.  Having soup full of roasted veggies is my idea of a great dinner.

What surprised me about a soup like this is that there is no garlic! I even double and triple checked the recipe, and checked it against the version that Megan posted on her blog a few weeks ago.  My search informed me there is no garlic.  I thought about adding it in, but I didn't.  Honestly, the flavor is amazing without it, and I think it might detract from the delicious roasted veggie flavor.

Roasted Vegetable Minestrone - Adapted from Pioneer Woman

16 oz. mushrooms, cut into 4ths
3 medium zucchini, quartered into thick slices
1 T olive oil
sea salt and pepper, to taste
2 large carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
8 C chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 C small shell pasta
Parmesan cheese

Drizzle the diced zucchini and mushrooms with olive oil.  Then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

Place veggies on a foil-lined cookie sheet, or my preferred way - in a glass 9x13 baking dish.

I love roasting veggies this way because clean up is easy and I don't have to use tinfoil. This works really well for our family since we don't like to waste and, we don't like spending excess time scrubbing at veggie stains on our cookie sheets! Just make sure the veggies aren't piled too deep.

Roast veggies at 450 for ~10 minutes, then stir and return to the oven. Continue roasting until veggies are lightly browned. This took our veggies about 20 minutes. I stirred them 2-3 times during the process. Then, set the veggies aside.

Meanwhile, saute onions, carrots and celery in oil over medium heat.  Saute for about 5 minutes until veggies begin to soften.

Pour in the broth, and simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes; simmer for 5 more minutes.

Then, add in the pasta.  Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Add the roasted veggies, and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and scoop into bowls.

Then, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Serve warm.

And, enjoy!




This post is linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Your Recipe, My Kitchen.

Crockpot Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup

With winter in full swing, there's nothing better than a slow-cooked soup.  This recipe went together in minutes -- simmered all day long making the house smell incredible, and tasted like I had worked hard all day to make a delicious dinner.

I adapted the original recipe to use less meat.  One way we stretch our food budget is by halving the amount of meat listed in recipes -- we don't really miss it, we still get the flavor and taste we enjoy, and we can get two or more meals out of a given 1 lb. of meat. 

I also added mushrooms.  Because we love them.  If you don't, I can still be your friend, and you can easily omit them from this recipe.  Just try making this one; I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Crockpot Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup - Adapted from An Oregon Cottage

1/2 lb. Italian sausage, cooked
4 C low-sodium beef broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 T minced onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 C green beans {frozen}
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 large handful, baby carrots
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 C small shell pasta

Begin by browning the sausage.  Our sausage was cooked and in the freezer, we simply thawed it before adding it to the crockpot.

Pour in the beef broth.

Add garlic and onion.

Then, toss in the mushrooms, green beans, and carrots. Add the tomatoes, including their juice.

Add the Italian seasoning.

Stir to mix, then cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

About 45 minutes before serving, turn the crockpot up to high. Then, add in the pasta.

When the pasta is done to your linking, serve up a bowl!

I have a 4 quart crockpot, and this soup comfortably served 4 adults with one meal left over.  We served it with whole wheat dinner rolls.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to: Potluck Sunday, Sundae Scoop, Virtual Soup Swap, Easy Dinners, This Week's Craving.