60 NEBRASKAland • APRIL 2015
W
ild turkey, like many game birds, greatly benefit
from special treatment. I am a huge fan of
brining birds, and when possible I also like
to age them. But for a simpler method, using
wild turkey breasts, and even legs, in soup is an
equally satisfying, yet easy meal. This stretches the meat
further, and eliminates concern for overcooking it.
If I had to pick only one type of dish to eat, it would be
soup. Chicken and rice soup is one of my favorites, and
recreating it with wild turkey made perfect sense. To make
the soup more interesting, I chose brown rice and quinoa.
Brown rice holds up better than white rice and quinoa
is delicious and high in protein. If you're one who only
likes to eat soup in cold weather, hurry and make this now
before the milder temperatures of spring are truly here to
stay.
Servings 4-6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
•
1 pound of wild turkey breast
•
1 cup of uncooked quinoa and brown rice mix
•
4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
•
4 cups of water
•
¼ cup of diced carrot
•
¼ cup of diced celery
•
¼ cup of diced red bell pepper
•
½ cup of diced onion
•
1 tablespoon of butter
•
1 tablespoon of olive oil
•
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
•
2 bay leaves
•
1 teaspoon of dried parsley, or 1 tablespoon of fresh
chopped parsley
•
½ teaspoon of paprika
•
kosher salt and black pepper
•
Tabasco sauce, optional
1. Cook quinoa and brown rice mix according to package
directions, set aside. Then in a pot, bring broth and water to
a boil. Add turkey breast(s) and boil for 10 minutes, or until
cooked through. Remove turkey and allow to cool before
shredding into smaller pieces. Set aside. Return broth to a
simmer and cover.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan over
medium-high heat. Add carrot, celery, red bell pepper, onion
and a pinch of salt, sauté for 5-7 minutes or until onions turn
translucent. Remove vegetables from the pan and set aside.
Heat butter then brown shredded turkey with a pinch of salt
until lightly browned.
3. Add to the broth turkey, sautéed vegetables and as much
quinoa/brown rice as you want. Add thyme, paprika, bay
leaves and parsley. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, cover
and simmer for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to marry.
It will also allow rice to soften and thicken up the soup.
Adjust seasonings, remove bay leaves and serve with brea d
or crackers. Add a couple drops of Tabasco sauce in your
soup if you'd like. ■
This recipe and photograph originally
appeared on Jenny's Food for Hunters blog
at Foodforhunters.com.
By Jenny Nguyen
Read Jenny's NEBRASKAland blog
"Midland Musings."
R
"
A simple, healthy soup packed with protein.
Wild Turkey and Brown Rice-Quinoa Soup
PHOTO
BY
JENNY
NGUYEN
Making turkey soup with brown rice and quinoa is a more
nutritious, high-protein alternative to white rice.
