Mid-Week-Pick-Me-Up: Creamy Smoked Turkey and Wild-Rice Soup!

It's Tuesday, and well, it's a perfect night for an easy soup.  I try to make a soup each week, a) because they are fairly healthy if you pick the right one and b) because they make great work lunches and leftovers.  I have been searching for a new soup recipe to add to my old stand-bys and COOKING LIGHT had just the right one.  I made a few changes:  I decided to use canadian bacon in place of the smoked turkey, but the key is, use anything smoked.  It adds so much to the flavor.  I also couldn't find regular wild rice, so I bought a box of the quick cooking wild rice and it cut the cooking time by about 45 minutes!  If you have a box of quick cooking rice, you really don't need to simmer for an hour or so, just cook until the rice is done.  Also, I didn't have sherry on hand, but I did have white wine, and added that instead.  Lesson here is: don't shy away from recipes because you may not have certain ingredients.  Improvise!  This really was one of the best soups I have made at home.

Creamy Smoked Turkey and Wild-Rice Soup from COOKING LIGHT

Ingredients

• 2  teaspoons  butter or stick margarine
• 1  cup  chopped carrot
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 1  cup  chopped green onions
• 1  teaspoon  chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped smoked turkey breast  or Canadian Bacon (1/2 pound)
• 1  cup  uncooked wild rice or a box of quick wild rice
• 1/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 2 3/4  cups  2% reduced-fat milk
• 2  tablespoons  dry sherry or white wine
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt

Preparation

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped turkey or canadian bacon and let brown.  Add carrot and next 5 ingredients (carrot through garlic). Sauté 8 minutes or until browned. If your wild rice box comes with a seasoning packet like mine does, add the packet now and combine.  Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Next, stir and rice; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes or until rice is tender (or shorter if you have quick cooking rice.)

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and milk, stirring with a whisk. Add to pan. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring frequently. Stir in sherry and salt.