Soup…the Comfort Food

Homemade Turkey Broth for the Soup

I eat a lot of soup when it’s cold out. And since it’s cold about 10 months out of the year where I live now, that’s a lot of soup! But I also turn to soup as a comfort food when I’m feeling blue or stressed or just out of sorts.

The following recipe was concocted after the passing of a very good friend’s father. I was going to submit it to a national magazine to publish, but then never got around to it. I had scribbled an introduction to the recipe on a scrap piece of paper (where most of my recipes end up!) and somehow it has since been separated from the recipe itself. No matter, I’ve made the soup enough I can wing it.

Here is the intro I wrote about 15 years ago:

My best friend and her parents came over for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and then her father unexpectedly passed away three days later. Having lost a family member two years prior, I remembered all the food prepared for our family, as we weren’t going to cook. Throughout the ordeal, the only thing I could eat was soup, despite the overwhelming array of macaroni dishes and casseroles . What with all the leftover turkey and my Texan background, I scoured the cabinets and came up with this recipe. My friend and family raved over the soup and said it was really the only thing that soothed their souls — hence the name. Here is the recipe:

Soothing Southwestern Turkey Soup

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups homemade turkey or chicken stock
Leftover turkey, shredded or cut into chunks
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 4 oz. can of diced green chiles (or fresh and broiled if you prefer)
1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
1/2 bag of wide egg noodles, uncooked
Salt and black pepper to taste

In large soup pot or dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat and sauté the vegetables and garlic until softened. Add the rest of the ingredients except the noodles and bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer for about 20 minutes or longer. Add the uncooked egg noodles, bring to a simmer again, and cook until noodles are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. This tastes much better the next day after the flavors have melded.

Notes: My husband is on a salt-restricted diet, so I make homemade turkey and chicken stock with no salt that is quite flavorful. I will post my recipe for that on another day. In the meantime, you can use low-sodium canned or boxed chicken broth for substitute. NEVER use chicken bouillon!