Since I have this lovely turkey frame from my Thanksgiving in July post, I figured I’d better make something from it.  This will be the third meal I get from this turkey.  The breast went to extra protein for Tony.  The dark meat ended up in the Mexican Turkey Stew.  Now the leftover turkey frame will make split pea soup.  I love split pea soup and have made it in the past with leftover spiral cut ham bones.  With the lower sodium diet we follow now, ham bones have too much sodium.  However, a turkey frame is much lower and will also work perfectly for this.  Food & Wine had a recipe for Turkey Split Pea Soup that I will use for this post.  This recipe is pretty good on stats.  The calories aren’t too bad and the protein is pretty good.  The peas help to enhance the protein numbers off the bat.  Peas are frequently used to make vegan protein powders.  The sodium is a little high, but that can be reduced pretty easily.  I am also doing this recipe in a slow cooker because it’s too hot to use the stove.

Here are the original stats:

• 318 Calories
• 6g Fat
• 57mg Cholesterol
• 764mg Sodium
• 996mg Potassium
• 43g Carbohydrates
• 36g Protein
• 164% Vitamin A
• 9% Vitamin C
• 6% Calcium
• 25% Iron

See, not too bad.  If you left the recipe as is, you have a pretty healthy recipe.  However, I need to make a couple of changes.  Here’s what I changed.

• I deleted the added salt to reduce the sodium.
• I deleted the olive oil to reduce the calories and because I am making this in a slow cooker.
• I replaced the turkey broth with low sodium chicken broth to lower the calories and sodium.
• I added broccoli to increase the vitamin C.

Here are the final stats:

• 291 Calories
• 3g Fat
• 57mg Cholesterol
• 262mg Sodium
• 551mg Potassium
• 46g Carbohydrates
• 34g Protein
• 162% Vitamin A
• 94% Vitamin C
• 7% Calcium
• 7% Iron

Here is the final recipe:

Split Pea and Broccoli Soup with Turkey

Serves 8

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 medium carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 8 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 roast turkey carcass with some meat on the bones, broken into pieces
• 1 pound dried split peas
• 1 pound fresh broccoli, stems and crown chopped

1. Place all of the ingredients in to a slow cooker except the broccoli.  Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
2. Remove the turkey frame and shred the meat.  Add the meat back to the slow cooker.
3. Add the broccoli to the slow cooker and cook for an additional 15-30 minutes.