A few weeks ago, I had an idea for a soup I wanted to make. It was going to be a soup that tasted like pizza and I planned to add in all the things I like on top of my pizza. Bell pepper, onions, mushrooms, olives, and even some zesty turkey pepperoni. I kept thinking of the best way to make the soup; roast the veggies in the oven, cook it all on the stove top, or throw it all in the slow cooker? I finally ended up throwing it all (ALL 16-gazillion ingredients!) in the slow cooker when I made this soup this past weekend. Unfortunately, the soup was NOT nearly as good as I hoped it would be. Don't get me wrong. I ate it all, but I know I can do better. Basically, I think it would have been better to saute or roast the mushrooms before adding them to the soup. I put 1/2 a pound of uncooked mushrooms in the slow cooker with all the other ingredients and mushrooms are just full of liquid. Maybe the soup was to watery? I don't know. I will try again and I'll keep you posted.
This weekend, I also made a Taco Pizza for my husband. Ordinarily, this is a meatless pizza when I make it, but this time he asked that I add Jennie-O Taco Seasoned Ground Turkey. It comes in a one pound package. I used only 1/2 of the turkey (maybe a bit more... I did not measure it) on the pizza so I had seasoned taco meat left over.
This week, I found myself craving soup again. I think I am in a soup mood nearly every day because we go for walks in the morning when it's still rather cool out. I was wanting soup but not wanting to go to the store. I threw a bunch of ingredients I found in the kitchen in the slow cooker (including the leftover seasoned turkey taco meat) and it ended up being one of my favorite soups EVER.
The moral to the story is that sometimes just a few simple ingredients can result in something really good and you don't need a GAZILLION ingredients or fancy techniques to make a great soup. I threw it all in the slow cooker and it turned out great.
If you ever find yourself with leftover seasoned taco meat of any kind, you might think to make soup like I did.
Taco Chili Soup with Pumpkin
1/2 to 1/3 of a pound of Jennie-O Brand Taco Seasoned ground turkey, cooked & crumbled
1 can pinto beans (15.5 ounces), drained and rinsed
1 can beef broth, low sodium (14 ounces)
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces)
1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 medium sized yellow or sweet onion, diced
a few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar (add more at the end if desired)
several grinds of black pepper (20 to 25 grinds), or to taste
salt to taste at the very end
For serving: Low fat Greek plain yogurt or sour cream
Put all ingredients (from cooked ground turkey through black pepper... everything but the salt and yogurt/sour cream) in a slow cooker (I used my small Crock Pot). Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours (until onions are tender). Taste for seasoning. I added just a few more pinches of sugar at the end to offset the spicy heat and the acidity of the tomatoes.
Serve each bowl of soup with a few tablespoons of plain yogurt or sour cream stirred in.
Enjoy!
Makes 4 servings.
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