Spicy Tofu Bánh Mì

Bánh Mì is the Vietnamese word for bread and is generally used to refer to the street-food sandwiches that you can find all over Vietnam (and now the rest of the world). I first developed a love for Vietnamese food (mainly phở ga) when I was living overseas in Asia, but it was not until I returned to the US that I ate Bánh Mì regularly. The suburban greater Seattle-area town that I grew up in had a rather large population of immigrants, mainly Korean and Vietnamese, which meant that there were a plethora of cheap restaurants to peruse (and peruse I did!). Of course I have my favorite family run restaurant and they have the absolute best spicy tofu Bánh Mì. Naturally the bar was set pretty high and this is my attempt to recreate their delicious sandwich.

The bread used to make Bánh Mì is always a french baguette. This is left over from French colonization, and though it is similar to a French style baguette they make them a little differently and usually is a little softer to eat. The Bánh Mì is a cultural fusion of classic french style (baguette, mayonnaise, and traditionally pate) and classic Vietnamese flavors like cilantro, jalapeno, cucumber and pickled carrots and daikon radish. With this formula you can make any kind of Bánh Mì, with almost any kind of meat. The most common meat fillings are sliced beef, pork belly and vietnamese meatballs. Today, I will be making my favorite, spicy tofu Bánh Mì, which is not normally something that you would find on the streets of Vietnam but they do serve them during celebrations at Buddist temples.

Ingredients:

• French Baguette
• 1 package of firm tofu
• a hand full of cilantro
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced jalapeno
• 1 medium carrot (shredded)
• 1 medium daikon radish (shredded)

For the picked carrot and daikon:

• 1/4 a cup of sugar
• 1 cup of white vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of warm water

For the spicy sauce:

• 2 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp korean gochujang
• 1 tbsp thai sambal sauce
• a tsp of agave or honey

First things first, the tofu! Preheat that oven to 400 degrees and lightly coat a baking tray with oil. Slice the tofu about 1/4 of an inch think and coat them with a little bit of corn starch (this absorbs the moisture and makes them a little crunchier).

You can drench them in sauce and then bake them but I find it doesn’t really add much more flavor in the end and I usually just drench then in sauce after they are done baking. The tofu should bake for 30 minutes and they should be flipped halfway through the baking process. When it is done it will look something like this:

While that is baking, we can start on the picked carrots and daikon. Grate the carrots and daikon by hand or by food processor. Add in the rest of the ingredients (water, vinegar, sugar, salt) and leave it to pickle. You can also do this the night before if you really want to pickle the carrots and daikon, but it still tastes pretty good either way. Let it mellow out while the tofu is baking.

Now for the sauce! Combine all of the ingredients into a small bowl.

All of these sauces can be found at your local asian grocery store, or online. Obviously you can add more spice if that’s what you like, I always like it super spicy.

Slice up the Baguette and toast if desired.

Now it is time to build our sandwich. Generally a Bánh Mì sandwich has mayo in it, but since I hate mayo I just decided to forgo it. If you like mayo there are plenty of mayo sriracha recipes that go great with Bánh Mì online! Slather on some sauce to the bun, then add the tofu when it is ready. Pile on some sliced cucumbers, picked carrot and daikon and stuff in some cilantro and sliced jalapenos (optional).

There is no wrong way to build a sandwich! Sit back with a cold beer (or in my case a glass of red wine) and enjoy.

What is your favorite kind of Bánh Mì?

Adobong Manok (Filipino Chicken Adobo)

         Adobo (and Filipino food in general) is probably one of the things I miss most about living in the Philippines. It is known as the dish of the country because every Filipino loves it, and every Filipino family has their own special way to make it.

The Philippines was colonized by the Spanish (for over 300 years!), the Japanese and the Americans. All of these cultures have influenced Filipino cuisine and caused it to be really versatile. Also due to its geographical proximity to Indonesia and China, it has undergone waves of immigration that also impacts some of the cuisine.

While the name of Adobo was given by the Spanish, the cooking method and the dish itself has it’s roots in indigenous tradition. Adobo is the Spanish word for marinade, which is something you definitely have to do in this recipe! Adobo was so popular pre-colonization because the vinegar and soy sauce (or fish sauce known as patis) used in the dish kept the food from spoiling and thus could be kept longer.

Every province makes it a little differently but the basic properties in making it are meat, vinegar and soy sauce. For example, in the south of the Philippines there is a large Muslim population influenced by Indonesia. They tend to add coconut milk and sometimes tumeric to their adobo. I prefer chicken or pork adobo (although not so much pork anymore as I try not to eat red meat), but adobo can be made with any meat or fish.

Lucky for me Adobo is pretty easy to make at home. My biggest qualm is trying to find the right vinegar. I am kind of a stickler about it. Adobo just doesn’t quite taste the same when you don’t use cane vinegar from the Philippines. This can usually be found at any local asian super market. Here is a link to Datu Puti, a famous Philippine vinegar that you are most likely to find in the asian grocery store.

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs of chicken thigh, leg or breast
• 1 white onion, diced
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 c. of cane vinegar (or white distilled vinegar/cider vinegar)
• 1/2 c. of soy sauce
• 1/2 c. of water
• 1 tbsp. of whole peppercorn
• 3 bay leaves
• 1-2 red or green thai chilies (or omit it if you can’t handle it, whatever)

Typically chicken with some bone is best used for this dish. The dark meat and bone seem to add so much more flavor than just using chicken breast. Although I have made it with just chicken breast, it is usually only made when I do not feel like spending a lot of time making dinner.

First things first, slice up an onion any way you typically like it in stews, nice and chunky.

 Then slice up your chili and mince the garlic.

Heat up a stew pot with olive oil. Throw the chicken into a stew pot and brown until the edges are slightly cooked. Add the onions, garlic and chili and stir. You can let it cook for a couple minutes. You should start to smell the wonderful aroma of cooking onions and garlic (it gets me everytime!!).

 Add the cane vinegar, soy sauce, water, bay leaves and peppercorn.

Bring it up to boil and then turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 30 minutes with the lid on or until the meat is nice and fall off the bone tender.

 If you want to thicken the broth uncover the pot and turn up the heat to medium for about 15 minutes.

If the broth is still too runny for your taste, just mix some of the broth with cornstarch or flour and create a rue. Add that back into the pot and it should thicken it up.

When it’s finish just serve over white or brown rice!

 If you want to add more vegetables, it cooks really well with green beans!

I’ve been trying to eat more veggie-friendly, so one of these days I might try and make a tofu adobo. tempeh adobo or adobo seitan. I found this really great tofu adobo recipe here that I might try my hand at! Maybe you will see a post from me in the future 🙂

As always, enjoy and let me know how you like it! Some days I really miss Filipino food, if you have a favorite Filipino recipe let me know!

Baked Spaghetti Squash (GF/Paleo Alternative)

        I was first introduced to Spaghetti Squash by my roommate while I was in college. It was a cheap, nutritious meal for two, and who doesn’t love that when you are young, poor and hungry. At first I didn’t really enjoy it and I smothered it with cheese in order to forget that it wasn’t really pasta. After I graduated and decided to lead a veggie-friendly lifestyle I noticed my tastes changed. They say that the more vegetables you eat in your diet the more you crave. Well, that is certainly true for me.

While squash in itself is a north american commodity, this version of squash was actually created in China. Not exactly sure why or how, but that’s where it came from. It some how made it to North America where it has been loved ever since.

Spaghetti squash is really a super cool gourd. It’s a winter squash, so naturally it’s always best to eat it when it is in season. You can bake it (which is what I did today), boil it, steam it and microwave it. Like most squash it has seeds and bits on the inside that you have to scoop out. Those seeds can be roasted like you would roast pumpkin seeds. It really is a versatile squash and it is perfect for someone who is gluten free, paleo or just trying to watch their carb intake! Spaghetti squash comes in many different sizes and colors. I tend to get orange or yellow squashes because they have higher amounts of beta-carotene. You can usually find these squashes at your local super market, but if you want the freshest go to your nearest farmers market.

Ingredients:

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 1 cup of pasta sauce of your choice

For starters, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the innards and seeds. Keep the seeds and separate them from the flesh if you want to bake them. I have a really easy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds that you can use for the squash seeds!

When you are finished place the squash, cut side down in deep baking dish. You want to fill the dish with 1 or 2 cm of water. You are going to bake the squash with a steam bath, which allows the whole squash to be cooked evenly.

Place the squash in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes. You can test to see if the squash is cooked through by poking it with a fork. If the flesh of the squash starts to shred easily with a fork it’s done!

I also let the squash rest face down for 10 minutes and continue to let it steam cook. When it has cooled down a little, flip the squash over and start shredding the flesh with a fork.

 It should start shredding pretty easily. If it isn’t then it might need to cook for another 10 minutes or so.

 From here you can shred all of the flesh and then saute it in a pan with just butter and herbs and eat it that way, or you can eat it any way you would normally use pasta. In my case I love eating chunky, spice tomato sauce so that is what I made for dinner. I layered some cheddar cheese on top of the squash and then piled some spicy homemade pasta sauce with veggie sausage.

Serve, eat and enjoy!

If you are a spaghetti squash connoisseur please write your favorite recipe in the comments!

Happy fall! 🙂

Portobello Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

Risotto is a classic Italian dish that consists of short grain rice cooked in broth until rich and creamy. Each city/region in Italy uses different ingredients and flavors but the preparation of the rice is generally the same.

Short grain rices, such as Arborio rice, are ideal for making risotto because they are starchy and absorb lots of liquid which makes them get thick and creamy. Making risotto is a somewhat lengthily process because you have to add broth into the rice in small increments generally over 15-20 minutes, but the result is this wonderfully creamy thick texture that is decadent without using any heavy creams.

Generally risotto is cooked first in a pan with onion, then wine is added and once that has been absorbed, stock is added in small amounts while you are stirring consistently. From that basic recipe, you can add all sorts of flavors.

I decided to go with baby portobellos and asparagus this time since they are both in season this time of year. My mom loves to make this with mushrooms which is why this is also my favorite.

In italy, they serve risotto with beef broth and saffron in Milan and black risotto made with cuttlefish ink in Tuscany. These are just a few of the types of risottos. You can use both red and white wine. I can’t wait to try some different flavors in the future!

Ingredients:

• 10 thinly sliced baby portobellos (or perhaps 2-3 thinly sliced mature portobellos)
• 1 onion – diced
• 10-15 asparagus stalks cut into 2 inch pieces
• 3 tbsp. of olive oil
• 1 box of Arborio rice (or any kind of starchy short grain rice you can get your hands on)
• 1 bottle of white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 6 cups of vegetable broth (if vegan) or chicken broth
• 2 tbsp. butter-spread (smart balance light)
• salt, pepper, chili flakes and other dried spices to taste

In one large frying pan, saute the onions in about 1 tbsp of olive oil until glassy, then add the mushrooms. Cook for about 8 minutes until the mushrooms have cooked off a nice brown liquid. Add the asparagus (which does not take a long time to saute) and saute for a minute or 2 before turning off the heat. Let the mushrooms and asparagus cool on the burner.

At the same time, you want to put the stock into a sauce pan and heat. In another, larger pot add about 2 tbsp of olive oil and the arborio rice. Cook the rice in the olive oil until they start to pale.

Add in 1 cup of the white wine and stir until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 of a cup of stock to the rice and stir until the stock is fully absorbed. Add another cup of white wine and stir until the wine has been absorbed. Continue to add the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, until all of the stock is used  and absorbed and the rice is cooked al-dente. This should take about 15-20 minutes. You can add the remaining white wine in 1/2 cup increments if you desire, or you can just pour yourself a nice glass.

The risotto should be thickening up nicely at this point. Remove the heat and add the mushroom, asparagus and onions to the pot with the saute liquid. You can also add margarine or butter, I used Smart Balance Light which is also vegan and cheese for the non vegans out there.  Salt, pepper and spice to taste!

Serve as a main meal or a side dish. I threw together a quick olive, tomato and Spinich salad with feta to go with it.

Do you have any special family Risotto recipes? Any memories of an Italian trip? 🙂

Juicing from home!

It’s day 5 of my juicing cleanse/diet!

If you guys want to know more about juicing lifestyle check out this website. I thought it was super informative. 

I am starting to feel like I have a lot more energy, waking up in the morning has gotten slightly easier (and I am not a morning person)

I have also started a small workout routine with the boyfriend which is an effort to get back in shape so we can have any fun adventures this summer.

So here is an example of a fruit juice recipe you can try with your juicer!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lemon
• 1 green apple
• 4 carrot sticks
• 4 strawberries
• 1/3 of an English cucumber
• a handful of kale or spinach (not pictured but its always good to have)

This is what the juice looks like (sans kale):

Kind of reminds me of V-8 Splash!

Another great fruit juice combo I love is

• 1 pear
• 1 green apple
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 2-3 carrots
• 1/2 lemon or lime

What are some of your favorite juices.

Homemade Veggie Juice!

For a few months now I have been meaning to try a juicing cleanse. I’ve watched countless documentaries on the subject all raving about how good for your body nutrient rich juices are. Being as young and poor as I am, the idea of juicing seemed like a lot of money and work, an idea that wasn’t quite attainable. I managed to borrow a juicer that was probably from the 80’s, from my mom and Costco was actually not a bad place to load up on value sized veggie and fruits, so it ended up being fairly cost-effective.

You can also try to find older juicers at thrift stores! Juicers don’t really have to be fancy in order to make delicious juices, they just need to work.

My goal was a ten day juice cleanse, juicing all day for the first three days then gradually eating one meal a day of solid food. I didn’t quite stick to that, but I tried my best.

Most of the juices I made were fruity-green juices (I’ll post some more recipes below), but today I want to share my veggie juice. Think along the lines of V8.

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks of celery
• 4 stalks of carrots
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• two handfuls of Kale (or any other leafy green)
• Half of an English cucumber
• A dash of Tabasco

I like to start with the greens first so that they continue to juice the whole time. Really you just put all of the ingredients in the juicer and let it do its magic.

 

I was at the Columbia City farmers market on Wednesday and I grabbed those angry greens and tomatoes. Super delish. This blend was very celery laden, so if you are not a big veggie fan tone it down a notch.

Once everything is juices you can add a dash of Tabasco if you like spice as much as I do. I wouldn’t recommend this juice if you are just starting juicing, as it can be a bit bitter. I’ve gotten used to the palate of juices so the bitterness doesn’t really bother me anymore.

You can really go wrong with any juice recipe! Try making juice with whatever you have on hand.

Ill post a fruit juice recipe soon!

 

 

Schweinebraten (German Pork Loin Roast)

So Schweinebraten is probably one of the most popular meat dishes in Germany (at least Bavaria) and it is one that we have often for a large family gathering. My Oma is German, from Nuremberg, and this is her simple recipe for a traditional Bavarian Schweinebraten. This is the super simplified version using a lean pork loin. Traditionally its best to make the Schweinebraten with a pork butt or a pork shoulder that still has a little of the fat and skin on top. The skin on the top is cut in a criss-cross pattern and cooked until it is crispy. Many of the authentic German flavors include cloves, juniper berries or mustard seed. My grandmother always like to keep the flavor of the meat simple, and that is my favorite way of preparing it simply because its grandmothers cooking. Try as many “authentic” versions of this recipe as you can if you are an avid meat-eater, you really can’t go wrong.

Usually this recipe accompanies some kind of dumpling, usually potato or bread (or sometimes both). I am biased towards kartoffelknödel (potato dumplings) because that’s what was served in our household. Maybe one day I will try my hand at another Bavarian recipe of Schweinebraten but for today I am going to share my families recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 lean Pork loin
• 2 cloves of garlic
• salt
• pepper
• garlic salt
• Carrots, Leeks, Potatoes, and Onions for roasting (or any other kind of vegetable you like)
• Olive Oil

Always bring your meat up to room temperature before you cook with it (i’m not exactly sure why if anyone wants to care to explain it to me. It was just told to me by my mother and I followed it). The secret to our perfect pork roast is the garlic. Cut the garlic gloves into long thin spires.2 cloves should be more than enough for a roast feeding about four people.

The first thing you do with the pork loin is to cut little holes in the meat with a sharp knife. Make the holes about a half inch to an inch apart. Insert the garlic pieces into the holes in the meat. Repeat this until all of the holes are filled. I love garlic so I tend to shove a lot in there.

Place it in a roasting pan with olive oil and all of the vegetables you want to roast with. The oven should be preheated to 400F. I only used carrots and onions this time, because my roommate hates celery and it was the only thing I had around. Leeks are especially good! Aside from delicious roasted vegetables, they are useful to have when cooking meat because they help make the stock used for the gravy. Traditional Schweinebraten is always eaten swimming in gravy.

When the oven is ready, place the pork inside and cook for about 55 minutes. Remove the pork from the oven  and place it to rest on a cutting board or serving platter. Let the meat stand for about 10 minutes. Always wait for you meat to rest before slicing. If you slice too soon it will release all of the juices in the meat and leave the meat really dry. Remove the veggies from the dish. You should have a lovely veggie/meat juice left. If you are baking in a dish that is not stove-top friendly place the meat broth in a stove-top pot. Add in some salt, pepper, flour (to thicken) and maggi (not necessary but we never cook port roast without it).

Slice the meat and serve!

I just made boiled potatoes and a simple salad to accompany the roast and carrots. I didn’t have the time to make the kartoffelknödel from scratch but don’t worry the recipe is coming! Instead try it with a traditional German potato salad or Kartoffelsalat.

What are some of your families meaty recipes? What do you love to eat with your pork roast?

Moroccan Hirira Ren Lentil Soup (Vegan!)

So I haven’t really spent much time in Africa or the Middle East, except for a short stint in Egypt. This  was not a meal I ever had when I was travelling through Egypt though. This is just something that I used to have at this Mediterranean place by my work that had cheap soup for those lunch breaks when I forgot to bring a meal from home.

I re-discovered it recently when I was catching up with some old friends from high school at a Mediterranean place downtown. It’s a super delicious tomato and lentil soup that is just the right mix of heartiness and lightness, perfect for the change of seasons.

Research has told me that Hirira is quite a common soup as a starter in Morocco, but it also commonly used during the month of Ramadan to break fast. As with many national staples, recipes for Hirira often differ within communities. The recipe that I prefer is a little heartier than some of the lighter versions out there. I like to include chickpeas as well as red lentils. This means it is a super protein packed soup with a little spicy kick to heat up those rainy spring nights!

Ingredients:

• 1 large white onion
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• A heafty handful of Kale, chopped
• EVOO
• 1/3 of a cup of parsley leaves and stems
• 1/2 cup of cilantro leaves and stems
• 2 tbsp. of minced garlic
• 2 tbsp of minced ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp of Turmeric
• 1 tsp. Cumin
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. of Hungarian paprika (at least, I usually put in 2 tbsp. because I love spice)
• 1 tbsp. of dried chili flakes (optional)
• 1 cup of dried red lentils
• 1 can of chick peas
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes (I used a can of tomato sauce and that was good too)
• 1 box of vegetable stock (although for the recipe on the pictures I used chicken stalk, it was what I had in the fridge at the time, but use vegetable if you want it vegan).
• Some chopped cilantro to garnish
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Coat a soup pot with a decent amount of Olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, kale, ginger, garlic and a little salt and pepper and saute until the onions start to brown. Now its time to add the spices; add the turmeric, cumin, paprika, cinnamon and chili flakes and saute for another couple of minutes. Heating the spices up is the best way to release their flavors.

Add the red lentils and cook for a few minutes to let them soften. After, add the chick peas (with the canning juice), tomato sauce and vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to simmer and let cook semi-lidded for about 30 minutes.

Add more broth or water if you want the soup to be more runny (I like it thick ;p)

I heated up some naan bread as an accompaniment. Serve and sprinkle some cilantro on top!

Traditionally I think they nix the naan and serve this with lemon, dates, philo dough and Aleppo chilies.

Enjoy!

Let me know what you think!

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

So, as I have stated in some previous posts, I used to live in the wonderful country of Sri Lanka. Besides all of the friendly people, tropical rain-forests and beautiful beaches, Sri Lanka has some of the best food I have encountered. My family only spent about two years there, but we tried to eat as much of the local food as we could. Our helper and cook wrote down some of our favorite dinner dishes and I treasure these recipes.

Today I am going to show you how to make some delicious Sri Lankan coconut chicken curry. In Sri Lanka, they often like to make curry dishes with coconut milk, instead of cow milk or tomato based curried that are popular up north in India. Many of the dishes are similar to the ones from Southern India, but Sri Lanka definitely has a distinct cuisine that should not be confused with Indian cuisine.

This particular curry we like to enjoy with Sri Lankan Daal, deviled potatoes and green beans (recipe coming soon), Coconut Sambol and Basmati rice.

Lets get started!

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of chicken (2-3 breasts, 4 small wings or drumsticks)
• 1 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1 Tbsp Roasted Curry Powder
• 1 Tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Fenugreek Seeds
• 2 Onions (chopped)
• 4 Garlic cloves (minced)
• A square inch of fresh ginger (minced)
• 2-3 Cinnamon sticks (in 1 inch pieces)
• 1/2 cup Curry leaves
• 3 Tbsp oil (preferably Grapeseed oil, but olive oil will do)
• 1 cup coconut cream (or the top creamy layer in a can of coconut milk plus some of the juice). Most of the time I just use a whole can, because I like it extra coconut-y.
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Many of these ingredients you might have to search for in an Indian or Asian food market. If nothing like that exists in your neighborhood the internet is a beautiful place and you can get almost anything through amazon.

Cut the chicken into 2.5 cm sized bites. Place the chicken in a bowl and mix with the chili, curry powder, turmeric and salt and pepper to create a dry rub marinade. You can do this the night before if you want to add extra flavor. I generally just marinate it for about 20 mins before I cook it and there is still plenty of flavor to go around. You should definitely do the dry run though because this seriously how you lock in the amazing flavor. I have found it’s so much more effective then adding the spices into the chicken after you have browned it.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and fry the onion, garlic, ginger, curry leaves and cinnamon sticks until the onions start to look slightly cooked and translucent. Add in marinated chicken and cook until the chicken is browned. When you think the chicken is decently cooked through add the coconut cream and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve it over some Basmati rice and Enjoy!

(More pictures to come!)

To all the Sri Lankan viewers out there, how do you do your chicken curry?

Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup!

When most people think of thanksgiving leftovers they imagine piles and piles of turkey meat. My favorite part of the post-thanksgiving left over division is the turkey carcass. Why? Because you can make some badass turkey soup.

You might be sick of turkey after thanksgiving, but this soup is so warming and at least here in the pacific northwest its a good way to combat the cold rainy weather. I like to put lots of ginger and garlic in my soups, which contain lots of good nutrients and flu fighting properties.

Ingredients:

For the broth:

• Turkey carcass
• 1 Onion
• 4 good sized carrots
• 4 celery stalks
• One inch cube of ginger, sliced
• One whole garlic clove
• Seasoning Spices (tyme, oregano, basil, fennel, ect)
• Chili flakes
• Bay leaf

For the soup:

• Turkey Meat
• 1 Onion
• 4 good sized carrots
• 4 celery stalks
• 2 cups of Kale
• One inch cube of ginger, sliced
• One whole garlic clove
• Spices
• 1 bag/box of your choice of pasta

Basically you fill up a large soup pot and boil the water. When the water is boiled throw in all of the ingredients (except the turkey meat), wait for the water to boil again and then turn it down to simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for at least 6 hours, 8+ is recommended. This is just the process of making the base broth.

Its important to use vegetables as well as bones when you are making your broth, the mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery) are often the base for many dishes because they provide a lot of flavor and a relatively low cost. With any soup base you are making be sure to add the mirepoix!

Having the skin boiling will really add to the flavor of the broth, its full of delicious fat that gives that warm homemade flavor. Don’t worry, there are also ways to trim the fat of the soup down without compromising the flavor.

After about 8 hours drain all of the bones/veggies from the broth into another soup pot.

You can either add in more onions, veggies, spices and the turkey and eat the soup or you can reduce the fat of the soup by putting the broth in the soup pot in the fridge over night. As the broth cools in the fridge the fat travels to the surface and solidifies. In the morning this leaves a layer of solid fat at the top which you can just simply skim off. Personally, and some people may disagree, I don’t think that this takes any of the flavor away.

At this point I like to separate about half of the broth and freeze it.

I take the rest of the broth, add in the mirepoix, turkey meat, spices pasta and kale (or any other things you might like in your broth). I love kale. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a boil, wait for the veggies and pasta to be al dente (probably around 12 minutes and serve.

If you are like me and hate mushy pasta, take your remainder soup off the burner to prevent your pasta from over cooking after you serve, or place them in storage containers.

Now feast! Its pretty amazing how delicious the broth can get, and its only flavored by salt. The longer you let the broth cook, the more flavor you can get. I try not to make soup with any soup power bases. I feel good knowing exactly where my flavor is coming from!

Does anyone have any good turkey soup variations? Or any turkey day left over favorites?