Italian Turkey and Orzo Soup

You may have looked at the title of today’s blog and thought – really? Soup? Alright, I KNOW it’s been ridiculously, uncomfortably hot lately (especially for those of us who are 28 weeks pregnant…not naming names or anything), but honestly I LOVE a good homemade soup – no matter what time of year it is. Maybe I’m weird. After all, I did get the recipe from the December 2014 edition of Cooking Light, so…there you go. Either way, I’m giving you the recipe today, and you can make it now or wait until there’s a bit of a chill in the air to whip up a batch. Whatever works for you.

As many of you know, I have a toddler at home; if you know anything about toddlers, you might know that they can be a tad picky at times when it comes to food. Their “taste tolerance” level, if you will, can vary greatly over time (by the way, I’m not necessarily talking week to week or even day to day here – meal to meal anyone? Yep, it happens). That being said, I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when my daughter practically devoured the small portion of this soup that my husband shared with her the other night. I’d actually heated up leftover spaghetti and meatballs for her that night and didn’t even bother serving her any of the soup because I figured there was just no way she’d go for it. Of course, I was wrong – she “asked” to try some of her dad’s as he was eating it, and it was clear how much she liked it once she did.

At that point, I considered it a fluke…I thought that the only reason why she liked it was because her daddy was eating it. I just knew that if I tried to give it to her again, she’d reject it without so much as a “no-thank-you” bite.

Wrong, again. She LOVED it. It was the first thing she tasted on her plate, and the ONLY thing she completely finished (although she did do well with her peas, which made me quite happy). I couldn’t believe it. You better believe I was doing a happy dance, a victory dance if you will. Hey – when you’re a parent, it’s the little things that count.

So here you go – a healthy, homemade, EASY soup recipe that I can officially say receives Zoey’s stamp of approval. Now that’s saying something.

By the way, the side salad shown below is a roasted grape and feta salad. It’s AMAZING, and I’ll be sharing the recipe with you later this week – so stay tuned.

Italian Turkey and Orzo Soup

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Course Main Dish

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 lb ground turkey 93% lean
• 1 tbs chopped fresh oregano
• 4 ounces sliced mushrooms I used a blend of cremini and shitake
• 5 garlic cloves chopped
• 3 cups chicken stock I use Simple Truth Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes drained (I use the no salt added version)
• 3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

 

• Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add turkey and cook for 6 minutes or until browned. Add oregano, mushrooms and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add stock, water, salt, red pepper and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and add orzo. Cook for 7 minutes. Add spinach and lemon juice and cook for 2 minutes. Serve.

Notes

Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2014