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.

California Reuben/ Rachel

When I started working at my first flowershop job, we had a wonderful (but overpriced) cafe across the street. Everyday, they would have a sandwich special, and they were always so good. I thought of one of my favorites the other day- the California Something, but it been nearly 15 years and I couldn't remember it that well. I know it had turkey, coleslaw, and Thousand Island and perhaps swiss. While I remember it being Reuben-like, I am pretty sure it was served cold.

I tried looking up this sandwich discovered there are tons of versions of it, usually called a California Reuben- which is either grilled or cold, sometimes with the Thousand Island, sometimes without- or the Rachel, which can vary from having Russian dressing or Thousand Island or even spicy mustard, sauerkraut or slaw, corned beef or turkey or both, and any kind of bread from rye to pumpernickel to sourdough. We tried ours both grilled and cold, with dressing, and grilled, without. The grilled was our favorite and the dressing didn't make enough of a difference to warrent extra calories. The cold wasn't as good, but you could taste each individual component in it more. Regardless, its delicious however you make it.

For each sandwich:
2 slices of bakery rye
2-3 slices of oven roasted turkey breast
2 slices swiss cheese
Homemade Coleslaw (recipe below- or sub store bought)
Cooking spray (we use organic vegetable spray)
Thousand Island (if desired)

1. Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium.
2. Place 2 slices of bread in pan. Top each slice with a slice of swiss, and place turkey on one slice. 3. As cheese is melted, and outsides of bread are becmoing a golden brown, spread a few spoonfuls of coleslaw to turkey side. When bread is desired toastedness, place the slice with just cheese on top on coleslaw side. (If using dressing, add a small amount before putting sandwich together, or serve on the side.)

Simple Homemade Coleslaw
2 1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cidar vinegar
1/2 cup lite mayo
1/4 tsp celery seed

1. Put cabbage and carrot in serving bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar. Stir to disolve.
3. Put mayo in another small bowl, and add vinegar mixture, and blend well. Add celery seed.
4. Pour half of dressing on cabbage. If needed, add more, a tbsp at a time. (Keep in mind, on a sandwich, less runny coleslaw is best. Save unused portion of dressing- you can always add more if needed after chilling.) Chill for at least 4 hours.