Discover Top Posts Tagged with #winter lunch

It was sooo yummy! And it can be eaten hot or cold, score!

For 3 lunches, mix (approximately):

1.5 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup hummus (thin out with water & white balsamic vinegar)

1/4 cup Kalamata olives

1/2 cup cooked and drained spinach

1/2 cup cooked and drained kale

1/4 cup sliced and cooked mushrooms

Dried oregano & chives

#Meal prep #Healthy lunch #Vegan #Wfpb #Winter lunch #To go #Rice #Chickpeas #Kale #Spinach #Bowl #Olives #Hot or cold

Merry Christmas Leftovers + Vegetables + Herbs = New Years Day Lunch!

What to do with a turkey carcass and leftover buttermilk gravy? Make soup, of course!

Because the refrigerator at my house is rather small by American standards and I love to cook a variety of sides for Christmas, a large turkey will not fit. To remedy the issue, I decided to buy turkey parts this year. It may be a bit more expensive and I didn’t have giblets for boiling but I had a couple of good size breasts, two wings and a couple of thighs and they fit in the meat drawer!

My initial process was marinating the meat in organic buttermilk. This is a trick that southern cooks will recognize for preparing tender chicken for frying. Unfortunately, once the buttermilk has been used to soak the poultry, it really isn’t good for much else other than ….. gravy! And that’s what I did. The turkey, after being marinated, was then dredged through flour, salt, black pepper, thyme and a little ajwain seeds to create a coating for oven baking in a little bacon grease and butter. The leftover flour mixture is not good for anything else, other than thickening the gravy! So the buttermilk, the flour and the drippings from the turkey pans were added to the gravy. As a critique, I must say, there was too much buttermilk for my taste in the gravy this year. But I think I can get enough flavor from boiling of the bones that it will be delicious for soup.

We saved all the turkey bones with their small bits of meat attached in a separate covered refrigerator storage container until today. I finished cutting the meat off the bones and put it in a heavy walled and bottomed pot and then added:

about 6 quarts water

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons rubbed thyme

1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Vinegar helps pull nutrients from the bones. Be sure to choose one that you like the flavor. I used apple cider vinegar because it has memories of fall for me and added just enough to bring out the nutrients but not enough to flavor the mix. You could also use balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar, white or red wine vinegar or just regular white vinegar. But the flavor is important even in small amounts so make sure it is a type that, as stated before, you like to eat or will enhance the flavors in the end product rather than putting it to chance.

Allow to cook for a few hours, covered. Check every thirty minutes to make sure it does not boil dry. It is ready when your broth has some good turkey flavor. Once it is ready locate another pan large enough to hold all the liquid broth; put a strainer over the new pot; and pour the contents for the stock pot through the strainer. This will catch all the turkey bones. When the bones are cool, remove any remaining meat from the strained materials. Return the meat pieces to the broth. Broth making can also include boiling pieces of onion, carrots and celery with the carcass. I decided not to this year for several reasons which have a lot to do with the buttermilk gravy.

What to add to the broth to make soup? Since I have about three cups of thick buttermilk gravy from Christmas dinner that was pretty heavy on the buttermilk flavor side, I will be looking for some very strong flavor in the broth. Here’s what I added:

2 large, finely chopped, sautéed onion

3 cups of corn

2 cups frozen green peas

5 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds

2 tablespoons fresh, chopped parsley

5 cloves chopped, roasted garlic

3 cloves pressed, fresh garlic

1 tablespoon basil

Ground pepper and salt, as required for your taste

Add 1 cup leftover white wine so you can open a fresh bottle!

If I hadn’t added ajwain seeds to the flour mixture, I would also be adding 4 or 5 finely chopped and sautéed celery stalks. These seeds are widely used in Southeast Asian cooking and taste like celery seeds. The flavor is pretty strong so I’m not adding celery to this soup. To gain as much flavor as possible, I deglazed the onion sauté pan with liquid turkey broth and added it to the mixture. The caramel flavor just adds to the depth of flavors available for the end product.

Making soup from leftovers is really about mixing of flavors together and stretching your budget. If you need it suggestions or additional ideas, you can always consult all sorts of websites and cook books. You can also taste test from your herb and spice draw or cabinet to see what you might like to add. Other ideas for items to add include pureed/mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or winter squash. I had all of these at the Christmas table. The puree will also help thicken the soup making it savory and delicious. These items also have their own flavors and spices so be sure to taste test as you go along. Otherwise, you aren’t making something anyone will eat! It can be fun so experiment and see what might work.

Now I’m ready for football and friends on New Year’s Day. Only my husband knows the concoction is a rework from a previous meal. Any of the leftovers will go into individual serving containers to reheat for lunch somewhere in the future.