Getting ready for Thanksgiving? I am too but what am I doing here posting a new recipe? Well, I thought this recipe will come in handy for you guys when you are thinking of different ways to use that leftover turkey! I made this recipe twice this week as I was recipe testing for my AIP cooking classes. I made the same recipe twice with different flavors , once with Indian and the second time with oriental flavors and the latter one turned out absolutely delicious! So that’s the recipe I am sharing here.
Some of you may wonder what congee is. So Congee is a thick savory porridge made from rice. In India it is called as Rice Kanji and is more common in southern India and is usually made with parboiled rice or red rice. The rice kanji is eaten along side a side of fried fish and or cooked beans and vegetables. Congee is a similar soup that is also common in other asian countries like China and Japan and it is eaten as breakfast and is served with toppings like fish or chicken or pork.
What are the ingredients in this recipe?
- In this congee recipe, to keep it Paleo, I have used cauliflower rice. And since cauliflower rice does not thicken the soup, I have additionally used arrowroot starch to thicken the soup.
- The congee has lots of ginger and garlic for flavor. I also add a handful of cranberries to give it a tang. You can also substitute fresh cranberries with cranberry jelly/relish leftover from thanksgiving. You can add black pepper a well as other peppers (remember peppers aren’t AIP elimination compliant). I also use coconut aminos for adding some more umami.
- For a garnish, I pan fried some sliced mushrooms. And voila, you have a delicious soup!
- For the meat, I used ground turkey in this recipe. However, you can easily substitute with leftover cooked turkey. You can also use any other ground meat like chicken or pork also in this recipe.
I made this in the Instant pot just because it is so convenient! But I have included instructions for regular pot as well in my recipe.
Hope you enjoy this recipe! My family and I loved it!
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- ½ of a medium red onion chopped fine
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh garlic, finely chopped
- 2 green serrano chillies, finely chopped (omit for AIP)
- ½ tsp ground black pepper (omit for AIP)
- 1 lb of ground turkey or any other ground meat (or about 2 cups of cooked shredded turkey)
- 1½ cups shredded cabbage (about ¼ of a large cabbage)
- 10-12 fresh cranberries (or 1-2 tbsp of homemade cranberry jelly)
- 5 cups of water
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 3-4 shiitake or white mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp coconut oil or avocado oil for frying
- 1½ cups of cauliflower rice fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw it beforehand)
- 4 tbsp arrowroot starch dissolved in 4 tbsp water
- coconut aminos as needed for additional flavor
- Press saute mode and when hot add the oil and the onions and sauce the onions for 2 minutes. Then add the ginger, garlic, green chillies (if adding), black pepper (if adding) and saute for 30 seconds. Next add the cabbage and the ground meat (or the shredded turkey) and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the cranberries (or cranberry relish), water and salt and place the lid. Pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- While the soup is in the Instant Pot, place a skillet/pan on heat and add the coconut oil. When the oil gets hot, add the sliced mushrooms and stir fry for about 3 minutes until mushrooms are cooked. Continue to cook on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes more until the slices turn crisp. Turn heat off and transfer the mushroom slices to a dish. Keep aside.
- When pressure cooking time is done, release the pressure manually carefully and open the lid. Now add the cauliflower rice and press 'saute' button and cook uncovered for about 3 minutes.
- Finally mix the arrowroot powder with the water to form a slurry and add it slowly to the soup while you continue to stir the soup with your other hand. Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes until the soup thickens up. Press cancel to turn heat off.
- For serving the soup, add soup to a serving bowl and place the fried mushrooms on top. Drizzle coconut aminos on top.
- Use the same instructions as above using a large size cooking pot and cooking initially the meat and vegetables for 10 minutes. Follow the rest of the steps as mentioned above.
[…] Turkey Congee Soup from Cook 2 Nourish *This comforting soup is made in the Instant Pot, but Indira includes stovetop directions too! […]
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