This season is filled with hustle and bustle – sometimes more than expected. I thought that I’d share a recipe idea for those of you who are as frazzled with the time crunch as I am.

You’re striving to cook like your grandma, keep it healthy, but time is not always on your side. What can you do?  How about soup?   It doesn’t need to take all day cooking and boning chicken.

There is no fixed recipe for the soup pictured below; you can substitute other vegetables and it should work as well. I can tell you it was warming, nourishing and delicious.

Somewhat Homemade Turkey Vegetable Soup
Here’s how I made it, in under a half hour.

1.    I put about 2 or 3 cups of chopped onions in my large pot with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil; start to brown.
2.    Add one large chopped green pepper. Mushrooms would have been nice, but I was out of them.
3.    Brown for a few minutes, until the onions are clear and the peppers have softened.
4.    Add 5 or 6 cups of broth, vegetable or chicken (You can use the no sodium kind if you prefer.)
5.    Add 2 or 3 cups of chopped carrots and 2 teaspoons of dried basil leaves.
6.    Add one chopped large red pepper, and 1 1/2 cups chopped celery.
7.    When the carrots are almost tender, add 8 ounces of whole wheat pasta or cooked wheat berries.
8.    Then add 15 ounces of canned diced tomatoes and 16 ounces of canned turkey or chicken (no need to drain) when the pasta is done, no added sodium varieties are fine.
9.    Heat for a minute or two, to heat the tomatoes and turkey.
10.    Season to taste.
11.    The best part of this soup is that you may have some leftover, for an even quicker meal on another day. Microwave and serve.

Somewhat Homemade Turkey Vegetable Soup

The Bonus - A Quick Meal for Another Day