Turkey Wild Rice Soup

Leftover turkey is great to have!  I found a recipe this year for a soup that was very good and used up some of that leftover turkey.  It has wild rice in it, and of course living in Minnesota that is easy to find here.

Turkey Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

2/3 cup uncooked wild rice
2 cups water
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup flour
4 cups turkey or chicken broth
2 cups cooked turkey, in small pieces
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste
3/4 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds (optional)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Bring the wild rice and water to a boil in a saucepan.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender but not mushy, 40-45 minutes.  Drain off any excess liquid, fluff the rice with a fork, and cook uncovered 5 minutes more.  Set the cooked rice aside.
Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.  Cook and stir the onion, celery and carrots until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the flour, and cook until it turns a pale yellowish-brown color, 3 to 5 minutes.  Gradually whisk  in the turkey broth until no lumps of flour remain.  Cook about 2 minutes.  Stir in the wild rice, turkey, salt, peppers and almonds.  Return to a simmer and cook 2 minutes to heat the ingredients.  Stir in the lemon juice and half-and-half, bring the soup almost to a boil, and serve hot.