Slow Cooker Turkey Wild Rice Soup

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! T and I made a quick trip to Okoboji over the weekend and actually got to spend some time outside without coats if you can believe it! Sixty degrees and sunny is much more to my liking than the perpetual 30 degrees we seem to be stuck in. No, the ice still hasn't melted...but it's getting close! The few stragglers still trying to ice fish are going to be lucky if they don't fall through. The lake only had a few inches of ice left, and the shoreline was open water. You wouldn't be catching me on it, thats for sure! Anyways...enough about my weekend. If you enjoyed turkey for Easter Sunday, you may now be wondering what to do with all of the leftovers. Never fear. I have a wonderfully delicious recipe for you to cook up in your slow-cooker. Yep - SLOW COOKER!

Slow cookers are wonderful because they can take some of the worry off and give you a little free-time to accomplish all those other things on your list of to-dos. Set it and forget it! If you use a slow-cooker liner, the cleanup is even more simple.

Step One: Gather the ingredients. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, and saute the carrot, onion, celery and garlic for approximately 10 minutes, or until the onion becomes translucent.

Step Two: Combine the broth, wild rice & seasoning packets, sauteed veggies, 1/2 tsp black pepper and turkey in a slow cooker. Top with sliced mushrooms, and set to low heat for 3.5 hours. 

Step Three: 20 minutes before serving, add peas. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan, whisk in half & half, flour and remaining seasonings.

Step Four: Add half & half/flour/spice mix to the slow cooker, stir well to incorporate.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

SLOW COOKER TURKEY WILD RICE SOUP | Yield: 8-10 servings | Total Time: 4.5 hours - 1/2 hr. prep + 4 hrs slow cooker

INGREDIENTS:

8 C low-sodium chicken broth, divided
8 oz. uncooked wild rice (I used 2 boxes of Rice'R'Roni long grain & wild rice mix + seasoning packets)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 celery ribs, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg baby bella mushrooms, chopped
2 C turkey, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

3/4 tsp black pepper, divided

1 1/2 C frozen peas, thawed

3 Tbsp butter

1 pint half & half

1/2 C flour

1/2 C fresh parsley, minced (or 2 Tbsp dried)

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Kosher salt to taste
Oyster crackers

DIRECTIONS:

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute the diced onion, carrot, garlic and celery for 10 minutes, or until the onion is transparent.

Meanwhile, combine 4 C chicken broth and 8 oz. uncooked wild rice with seasoning packs in a slow cooker. Pour the remaining 4 C chicken broth over top. Add sauteed vegetables, turkey, chopped mushrooms and 1/2 tsp black pepper, stir. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours (or low for 6-8 hours) until the wild rice and veggies are cooked through.

Stir in peas during last 20 minutes of cooking.

After adding peas, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add half & half, whisk in flour 1/4 C at a time. Whisk in 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning. Add to slow cooker, stirring to combine. Add an additional cup of water or broth here if you prefer a thinner soup. Continue cooking on high for an additional 15-20 minutes until heated through. Serve with oyster crackers.

What did you make for Easter?