So — Christmas. It wasn’t the healthiest holiday season for us. I expected to spend Boxing Day sorting through a pile of festive photos, but instead there wasn’t much to document because food mostly eluded me. On Friday morning, our anniversary, we planned to stroll downtown, finish last-minute shopping, enjoy a fancy coffee, go out for dinner and wrap presents. Instead I came home from an early morning class feeling woozy and spent the day in bed and in the bathroom. That evening W got sick too, and our anniversary became a quiet night of mopping floors, doing laundry, cuddling, and watching old episodes of Arrested Development. It wasn’t miserable, just not a culinary highlight.
Saturday we had the big turkey dinner at my parents’ house. The meal was lovely — a 20 lb organic, free-range heritage turkey from Winter’s that we got into the oven that morning, a beautiful table, excited kids building Lego and popping crackers, and my sister’s killer chocolate cheesecake. I hadn’t eaten since Thursday night, but as I managed sips of Coke I hoped to join in. It didn’t last.
On Christmas Day I managed a single cracker, and later at another family gathering I could only handle a Pillsbury crescent roll. So come Boxing Day I decided to ease back into real food without attempting Turkey Dinner Part 3 or a complicated turkey shepherd’s pie. Leftovers are perfect for soup, so that’s what I made.
We had mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and roasted sweet potatoes, so I prepared two pots: one orange-red and one green — festive colors to match the season.
Making soup doesn’t require a rigid recipe. The point is to transform what you already have into something warm and comforting, so I’ll skip a strict formula and explain a straightforward approach you can adapt.
Start by heating a pot over medium heat, drizzle in a little oil and add a pat of butter. Chop an onion and add it to the pot along with a clove or three of garlic — I slice the garlic so it won’t burn because everything will be pureed later.
Let the onion and garlic soften for a few minutes, then add your leftover vegetables. For the green pot I stirred in about a cup and a half of leftover mashed potatoes and roughly three quarters of a cup of peas, though exact amounts don’t matter — use whatever you have. Broccoli, spinach, kale, asparagus or even roasted Brussels sprouts would work well. For the orange-red pot I added a spoonful of curry paste, the carrots and roasted sweet potatoes; roasted squash would also be a great match.
Pour in enough stock to cover the vegetables and bring to a simmer. If you have turkey stock from roasting, use that; otherwise chicken or vegetable stock from the pantry is fine. Simmer until everything is tender, usually 10–30 minutes depending on the ingredients. Purée the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding more stock or water if it’s too thick, or reduce it a bit longer if it’s too thin. A splash of cream is optional but not necessary — simple, well-seasoned puréed veg and stock can be perfectly satisfying.
Soups are a forgiving, delicious way to use leftovers. Any cooked vegetable—boiled, steamed or roasted—can be simmered with stock and blended into a silky, comforting soup. If you don’t want to eat it right away, jar or freeze the puréed soup for an easy future meal. Happy holidays and enjoy turning leftovers into something nourishing.