This black bean and lentil soup is a spicy southwestern soup recipe thrown together with what I had on hand in the house one night… Delish!

During these cold months of winter, nothing goes better for dinner than a warm, hearty soup recipe. This one fits the bill there…

“OK… black beans, tomatoes and ground turkey on hand… what to make? How about my signature quick chili? Great! Oops… I’m missing all the rest of the ingredients… rethink that plan…”

This is the conversation I had with myself one evening recently, when I drifted into the kitchen after a long day at the computer to make dinner. I love my chili, but I had to come up with a different thrown together soup recipe when I realized I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand to make the traditional chili.

A few veggies, some spices and a canister of lentils later, I had a flavorful pot of soup going. You’ll find the full recipe and detailed cooking instructions on my main recipe site, Thrown Together Meals…

Black Bean and Lentil Soup

I hope you enjoy!

Our Mexican Rice Casserole is another thrown together meal, crafted on the fly from stuff I had sitting around the house, including ground turkey.

Even though I love to cook, I hate to shop, so I frequently find my cupboards and fridge getting a bit bare around the time I need to force myself to head to the grocery store for my monthly trip. One time, I came up with the Mexican Rice concept using the only kind of meat I had left in the house (ground turkey), some old prepared rice side dish packets (Southwestern Style and Mexican) I’d bought for lunch and never used and a few of my usual staples that I almost always have on hand, no matter how overdue grocery shopping is.

My hubby, mom and I were pretty pleased with the results!

I hope you like it too…

Serve the casserole with a green salad and/or cornbread or corn muffins. Yumm! To check out this recipe, you can go to our main Thrown-Together-Meals.com website and view the Mexican Rice Casserole recipe page. You can also find lots more great ground turkey recipes or ethnic recipes too. Or, if you’re feeling inspired, you can even share some of your favorite recipes there too!

Enjoy!