Happy AFTER TURKEY DAY!!
.....or BLACK FRIDAY......
We know your probably have some left over turkey from the turkey you got up at 3 am to toss in the oven yesterday. So instead of just one turkey inspired idea/recipe, we are going to supply you with 5.
Yes, that's right..... 5....
ssshhhh..... but you can just sub turkey for any of your chicken recipes :)
1. Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- 9 cups chicken stock/broth
- 3 cups dry whole-grain noodles
- 10 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 celery stalks, washed and chopped
- 2 cups cooked turkey, shredded or diced
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- Bonus: If you want to go the extra mile make and add whole-wheat matzo balls to this soup. Just make sure you boil the matzo balls in a separate pot of water and not the stock!
- Bring chicken stock to a boil.
- Add dry whole-grain noodles to stock and set the timer according to pasta package directions.
- When there are 5 minutes left in the cooking time throw in the chopped carrots and celery. Keep the stock boiling.
- When there is about 1 minute left add the cooked chicken to the stock so it can heat up thoroughly.
- Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve warm and store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy
2. Make “Turkey Terrific Sandwiches”
inspired by a sandwich shop on Nantucket Island called Provisions. All it takes is some good whole-wheat bread, a little mayo, stuffing, turkey, and the optional cranberry sauce to make one good sandwich. To make it extra special grill it or stick it in a panini press.
3. Make homemade turkey stock
with the bones…just like you do with leftover chicken bones/parts. This would be the perfect starting point for your “Turkey Noodle Soup” as mentioned above or for other dishes that call for chicken broth/stock
4. Freeze batches of the cooked turkey
Save the meat for sandwiches or recipes on another day using either zip lock bags or other freezer-safe containers.
5. Sub turkey for cooked chicken/meat
(or just add it to the veggies in vegetarian dishes) in some of your favorite recipes including…
- 12 whole-grain corn tortillas
- 1 “all natural” rotisserie chicken from Earth Fare (or similar store) or boil your own raw whole organic chicken or 4 chicken breasts
- 1 cup of cooked brown rice
- 1 cup of frozen corn kernels
- 3 tablespoons organic tomato paste
- Chili powder
- Ground cumin
- 3 cups organic canned tomato sauce (with no salt added if you can find it)
- 1 – 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (depending on if you like a little spice)
- Ground cinnamon
- Monterey Jack cheese
- Optional: sour cream, cilantro, avocado or guacamole
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
- Wrap corn tortillas in foil and warm in the oven while you prepare everything else.
- Shred cooked chicken using forks. Mix in 3 tablespoons tomato paste, ½ cup grated cheese, rice, frozen corn kernels (no need to defrost them), 1 teaspoon chili powder, and 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
- For the sauce combine 3 cups tomato sauce, pepper, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder and heat through, keeping warm until needed.
- Remove tortillas from oven and switch on broiler to high. Now with most enchilada recipes you have to individually wrap up each tortilla with the filling, but why go through all of that effort when you can just layer it like lasagne and the end result still tastes the same?
- Using two separate square or round baking dishes start to distribute the ingredients in the following order: 1. Sauce (spread a little out on bottom of baking dishes), 2. Tortilla layer (I used 2 for each tortilla layer), 3. About a quarter of chicken mixture (for each dish), 4. More sauce, 5. Another tortilla layer, 6. The rest of chicken mixture, 7. Another tortilla layer, 8. The last of the sauce, 9. Grated cheese on top.
- Now, for the extra casserole that you are going to freeze go ahead and stop here. Cover it, label it, and throw it into the freezer. When you decide to defrost it later then you can pick things back up with the last broiling step below (after it has been defrosted).
- Put the casserole under the broiler and broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and it is heated through.
Serve with cilantro, avocado/guacamole and enjoy!
- ⅔ cup butter
- ⅔ cup whole-wheat flour
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 – 10 oz can stewed tomatoes, chopped with juice
- 2 cups chicken broth/stock
- 1 cup flat beer (optional – can sub more stock instead)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper, to taste
- Pinch of dried thyme
- ½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¾ lb raw shrimp, peeled
- ½ lb cooked crabmeat, shredded
- ½ pound sausage (andouille or other variety), browned and sliced or crumbled
- Brown rice, cooked
- Filé powder and hot sauce, for serving (optional)
- Add butter to large soup pot over medium heat. Once melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk together thoroughly. Keep whisking steadily over medium heat until mixture browns (about 10 – 15 minutes). This technique is called “making a roux.”
- Dump diced veggies, onion, and garlic into pot. Stir and cook over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add stewed tomatoes with juice, stir once, and cover. Stir 3 – 4 times over next 15 minutes.
- Add chicken broth, 1 cup water, and 1 cup beer. Add all spices, stir once, and simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes.
- Add cooked sausage and seafood and cook on medium heat until shrimp is done all the way through.
- Serve over brown rice and sprinkle filé powder on top (optional). Provide hot sauce if desired.
And don't forget to freeze the leftovers!