White Turkey Chili

Everytime we have a holiday dinner at our home, leftover turkey meat goes into the freezer in zip lock baggies, with the intention of using them in soups and casseroles. But what usually happens is Sage will pull out a package to defrost, make a sandwich with it once, and then it will sit in the fridge until I throw it away. (And I won't even get into the year I stored a turkey carcass in the freezer to make a stock, only to toss it out in defeat somewhere around the following Thanksgiving.)

This year however, we had turkey at both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve at our house, so I had a good bit and was determined to do better than past years. So far, I'm doing pretty well. I recently made an amazing pot pie (sorry, no blog post-it was impossible to photograph) and now this tasty soup. It's been quite cold here, and the three of us have all been sick. When I'm not feeling well and its freezing out, all I want to eat is soup. And I'm not the only one. Right after I'd found this recipe to make for dinner the other night, Sage called me and asked if I could defrost some turkey and make soup for dinner.

I kept the ingedients of this recipe the same, but I did change the quanities. I wanted more veggies in mine and less broth. This called for 32 oz. of broth, which would've been way too watery. We added a topping of sharp cheddar, a dallop of sour cream and served it with tortilla chips. It was a good soup that we enjoyed, but since the reviewers on the site I found it on gave it 5 stars, I expected to be blown away. I wasn't, but I chalked it up to just preferring a hearty tomato based chili over a white one and also liking ground turkey meat more than chopped roast turkey. I did feel the cheese, sour cream and chips really helped. The next day, though, this soup was SO much better! I'm not sure if it was a little colder and I was a little sicker, or just that the flavors melded overnight, but it was fantastic as a leftover! This soup makes about 6 good sized servings and is great for those who like a little warmth, but nothing too spicy. Add some heat to it if you prefer a kick.

adapted slightly from a Cooking Light recipe, found on myrecipes.com

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 clove galic, minced

3 cups chopped cooked turkey (I didn't measure out mine, but it was probably about 2 1/2 cups)

2 cans cannnellini beans, drained, rinsed and divided

2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) low sodium chicken broth

1 (4.5 oz. can) chopped green chiles

1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn (I only had a 1/2 cup but would've used the full cup if I'd had it.)

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 cup 1% low-fat milk

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

suggested accompaniments: 2% sharp cheddar, reduced fat sour cream or plain yogurt, tortilla chips

Heat oil in a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium high meat. Add onion, pepper, celery, jalapeno and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add the turkey, 1 1/2 cups of the beans, broth, green chiles, corn and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Mash remaining beans. Add mashed beans and milk to the pot. Simmer, uncovered for for 20 minutes or until mixture is thick. Stir in chopped cilantro.

Serve with tortilla chips on the side and top with cheese and sour cream or yogurt, if desired.