Hearty spinach and chickpea soup with turkey

Since I had "mushroom success" with my winter greens and mushroom pasta, I decided to give mushrooms another go. I had tried this recipe before, omitting the mushrooms and adding ground turkey as a protein instead. The soup was wonderful the first time. I find that some good ground turkey adds amazing flavor to soups. Anyways, I decided to make this again with both the turkey and mushrooms.

For some reason, this soup has sort of an Asian feel to me, but that is somewhat strange because it also has dried rosemary and calls for grated parmesan as garnish. Whatever feel you get from this soup, it is a really solid recipe and one that I know I will be going back to again and again. And Zack loves it too.  And it's a nice detour from my usual, go-to tomato-based chilies. 

Plus, you can be assured that this soup is good for you. According to Power Foods, mushrooms are "bursting with compounds that can reduce cholesterol and improve immunity." I didn't realize, but apparently they have not only nutritional benefits, but curative abilities also. I know, it sounds a little hokey-pokey, but they've been shown to have antioxidant and cancer-fighting properties. Guess I'll be cooking with mushrooms more often. And we all know spinach is wonderful - vitamin K, anyone? Lastly, brown rice offers up the antioxidant vitamin E, B vitamins, and plenty of fiber. There's your nutritional overview.

Hearty spinach and chickpea soup with turkey

As adapted from Power Foods - 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups water

1/2 cup short-grain brown rice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4-1 pound ground turkey

8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps cleaned and thinly sliced (4 cups)

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock

1/2-3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

8-10 ounces baby spinach

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 ounces (1/2 cup) grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Bring the water to boil in a saucepan. Sir in brown rice, return to boil, and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook until rice is tender and has absorbed all liquid, 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat oil over medium. Cook onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Push onion and garlic to edges of pot, add additional olive oil if necessary, and add ground turkey to middle of pot. Break up turkey into chunks with a spoon, then add dried rosemary, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper, mixing to combine. Cook turkey until it is browned and just about cooked through, mixing in the cooked onion and garlic. Add mushrooms, gently stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to boil. Stir in rice and chickpeas; return to boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and continue cooking 5 minutes more to allow flavors to blend. Stir spinach into hot soup immediately before serving and sprinkle with parmesan, if using. 

This soup was actually a little exploratory for me because I had to shift around the original instructions a bit to incorporate the ground turkey and mushrooms. I also added the crushed red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, and chose to add the spices sooner (since I wanted them to really penetrate and flavor the ground turkey). I also "eye-balled" my rosemary and red pepper flake measurements, adding a bit more than called for, to compensate for the added turkey. What can I say, maybe I'm starting to make some of my own judgement calls and am becoming some sort of cook. (Ha ha.)

This is a great, wholesome soup with wonderful flavor. Try it and enjoy! We did.