There are so many fantastic dishes to be made from leftovers, when I think of an abundant amount of leftovers, turkey and chicken seem to come to mind the most often.
Cooking and saving the natural broth from your homemade chicken or turkey adds copious amounts of flavor to soups, sauces or gravy dishes. If this option isn’t available, you can still make some really great soups with the aid of low-salt or no-salt chicken stock or low-salt chicken bouillon cubes. I actually enjoy making a combination of the two. If I don’t have quite enough chicken stock leftover for a soup I will apply what I have and in another stock pot I will bring 2-3 cups of water to boiling and add 1/2 a piece of low-salt bouillon along with the leftover chicken stock and maybe season with Kosher salt or sea salt and add more seasonings, then blend both of the warm liquids together as the base for my soup.
Here are a few seasoning suggestions for creating the base seasonings of your chicken/turkey soup.
*Fresh or dried coriander, parsley flakes
*Fresh ginger
*Fresh, sliced onions or scallions
*Fresh, grated garlic
* 1/4 pound of shrimp** Optional
Salt, lemon pepper or white pepper to taste
Cummin or crushed red pepper, to taste, if you like your soup spicy.
A splash of extra virgin Olive Oil
I will also add vegetables. If you are in a hurry, you can add half a bag of fresh-frozen bag of mixed vegetables. For a fresh pop of flavor, you may add a handful of cleaned and dried spinach, kale or celery leaves.
Remember, the chicken/turkey is already cooked so you may first wish to add a pasta or a rice to enhance or entice your soup more to your liking/taste.
My spouse enjoys spaghetti cut in fourths and added to his soups. You can vary this recipe with different ingredient choices.~ Try adding rice, potatoes or beans to your soup, or any other type of noodle or pasta will do just fine! Making sure to add the uncooked portions first as your base along with the stock water. You may then add your seasonings,’ vegetables and lastly the shrimp first, cook for 5 minutes on low, and then the pre-cooked chicken/turkey. Let simmer on med-low heat for about 15-20 minutes, set aside for 5 minutes, check for desired taste/seasonings’ and serve your soup with sliced baguette bread, oyster crackers or warm flat bread! This makes about two to four servings, depending on the size of your soup bowels..
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