This past weekend it was cold here, like single digit low temperatures.

I had been thinking I needed to use the last of a smoked turkey I’d frozen from Christmas dinner.

Soup was in the plan for the weekend.

Saturday morning, I began to think about what I was going to put into my soup, so I checked to see what I had on hand.

Most of the times I make soup, it’s from whatever I happen to have, I don’t buy ingredients with soup in mind.

So, I had celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, bok choy, garlic, and napa cabbage. Those were the fresh ingredients. In the freezer, I had whole kernel corn and leftover smoked turkey. And from the pantry I had some green beans.

What follows is an approximation of quantities. It’s soup, you can get away with nearly anything as long as you don’t over season it.

Ingredients

4 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
3 carrots, peels and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, coarsley chopped
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 stalks bok choy, cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Use the leaves for garnish.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup napa cabbage, chopped coarsely
1 can green beans
1 cup whole kernel corn
2 cups chopped turkey, I used a drumstick, thigh, 2 wings, and some meat scraped from the leftover smoked turkey.
1 quart turkey stock
1 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/4 cup liquid smoke
8 cups water
1 stick butter
1 cup pearl barley

Put 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in your soup pot and heat over a medium flame.

Once hot, add the onions and the garlic. Stir to keep from burning.

Once you can smell the aroma of the onions and garlic being released, add the celery, carrots, and the bok choy stalks. Saute until soft.

Add the potatoes, corn, and the green beans, mix everything together.

Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and parsley flakes, stir so the vegetables are coated.

Add the liquid smoke, turkey stock and the water, let the mixture come to a boil.

Add the stick of butter. I know, a whole stick. But this will give the soup a nice texture and the barley will soak the flavor in.

Cook at a simmer for approximately 2 hours.

Add the barley and cook for an additional hour.

The soup will thicken up as the barley cooks, adjust with water or stock to your liking.

Serve and enjoy.