Vegetable-Barley Soup with Turkey

Turkey carcasses take up a lot of freezer space.  I'm not even sure why I kept it, other than an urge not to waste.  There was barely any meat left on the bones because I did a very good job pulling it on Thanksgiving.  I made a little extra stock, and was pleasantly surprised when the extra pint I set aside gelled after cooling.  I made an aspic bone broth!  It's in the freezer, but I know what I'm going to use it for.

Soup in February just sounds like a wonderful, hearty meal.  Never mind that it was over 80º the day I made it.  I had barley in the pantry to bulk it up, and only needed to decide what vegetables to add.  I wiped out the broth bag in January and had to buy a little extra to sacrifice to the cause.  At least I still have a ton of celery in the pond.  It will probably keep going until summer and then bolt, but I'll have gotten a full year out of a single purchase, plus all the free mulch I need.

I wasn't planning for this to be a "diet" soup, but I did lose a bit of weight.  There's fat in it from the oil, and the way I made the broth had quite a bit of fat in it.  It's the veggies and barley.  They both fill you up unexpectedly fast, so one bowl and a side roll are plenty for dinner.

If, like me, you don't have much meat left on your turkey, you can add in leftovers from your freezer or even a can of chicken.  Or buy a turkey leg to add to the pot during the broth-making process, then pull the meat off that.  I just went for turkey flavoring and found maybe a cup of meat when I pulled out the solids, which kind of defeats the purpose of a turkey soup.  We went from mornings barely over freezing to T-shirt weather in two days.  My allergies were raging and I just wanted a clear soup with some semblance of nutrition.

*2 lbs turkey bones and pieces, or 1 qt turkey broth
4 C mirepoix if making broth from scratch
*1/2 C pearled barley
2 Tb oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
*4 ribs celery, chopped
1 large russet potato
1 small head cabbage (under 2 lbs)
*1/2 tsp dried sage
salt and pepper to taste

1.  If making broth from scratch, place bones, mirepoix, aromatics, and 6 C of water in a large soup pot.  Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for 2 to 3 hours.  Strain and set aside.  Pick off the meat from the bones or pieces and shred, about 2 cups of meat.  Or open a can of chicken or turkey to supplement.

2.  For the barley, check over for stones and rinse.  Place in a saucepan with water to cover by 1/2".  Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Drain and rinse after this first cooking to get rid of extra starch.  Refill pot with water to cover the barley by one inch.  Bring to a low boil.  Cover, lower heat to a simmer, and cook 45 minutes, until barley is fully cooked.  If you put it in the soup only half-cooked, it's just going to suck up all of your broth.  Drain off excess water.

3.  In the large soup pot, heat oil over medium.  Add onion and celery and cook to soften.  Add carrots and turkey stock.  Simmer while you chop the potato into bite-sized pieces (peeling optional).  Add potato and sage to the pot and continue to simmer while you deal with the cabbage.

4.  Core cabbage and slice fairly thinly so you don't end up with chunks of cabbage in your soup.  Add and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until every vegetable is sufficiently cooked, 20-30 minutes.  Add in the turkey shreds and barley and stir to distribute.  Taste and add salt and pepper.  Serve hot.

Serves a lot more than I was planning, about 8

Difficulty rating  :), :-0 with making your own stock