Tera’s New Favorite Soup

So, if you haven’t noticed, we make soup a LOT around here. A lot as in at least once a week, and sometimes two. In the winter, that might bump up to three. It’s just amazing to me how easy soup is, and how just the addition or subtraction of a few things can create a brand new recipe. I can’t even remember the last time I cracked open a cookbook to make soup. It’s just something that kind of makes itself based on what’s on hand and what needs to go.

Yesterday, Tera made me play cards with her four times. Yes, four times. She had tired of our usual game of Spite and Malice and ~~coerced me, with many tears and an unbearable amount of begging,~~ suggested we try Dutch Blitz instead. I ~~caved~~ agreed, so that’s what we did. But now Tera is not happy with how quickly I picked up the game. You should hear some of the things she does not say to me. 😀

To make up for my winning streak, I had no choice but to create a new soup delight for her. And it seemed to work. She didn’t grimace at me once over lunch.

Spicy Turkey Noodle Soup

(A.k.a “Tera’s New Favorite Soup” )

A batch of turkey broth (hopefully one you made yourself, otherwise season up two boxes of store-bought)
About 20 turkey meatballs (I used this spicy recipe)
About 6 medium carrots, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2-2 serrano peppers, diced fine (I used 2 and it was H.O.T. Feel free to omit this if you’re afraid)
8 ounces dried noodles (I used TJ’s gluten-free corn noodles … they were deLICIOUS)
dash of garlic powder
salt and pepper
dash of Tony Chechere’s seasoning (optional)
about 1/2 cup salsa (not necessary, but I was using up the last bit of homemade salsa in a big quart jar that was taking up way too much room in my fridge)

So the way this recipe evolved was that I had just roasted eight turkey legs in a roasting dish the night before. After pulling off the meat, I put the bones in my crock pot, added one whole Walla Walla sweet onion, and covered with water. That cooked all night and was indescribably fragrant come morning. After straining out the bones, I had a good-sized portion of very tasty turkey broth. If you want the best broth possible, you’ll have to do those steps too. Turkey broth in a box or can will do in a pinch, but you’ll really have to season it up.

If you have meatballs in the freezer (which I always do), you can plop those in the broth at the same time that you put in the vegetables. If you’re making a fresh batch, put them in just before the noodles.

To the broth, add the carrots, pepper, serranos, and, if frozen, your meatballs. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes.

If your meatballs are fresh (not frozen), put those in the pot now. Bring back to a boil and add the noodles and seasonings. Cook another 8-10 minutes or until the noodles are tender, taste, season more if needed, and serve!