As I usually do, I made turkey stock after Thanksgiving. I made A LOT of stock, which is in the freezer (hanging out with all my tomato sauce).  My friend Allan came and made us a wonderful turkey noodle soup.  Allan’s soups are always delicious, so I watched very closely as he worked his magic.  Then, when I decided to make some turkey vegetable soup to help ward off colds, I went to the freezer and brought out some more stock.

Allan’s bouquet garni was wonderful, he made it from herbs I cut in the garden that day.  Today I used herbs I had dried from the garden.  I also opted to not use rosemary this time, but rather oregano. It still worked really well and imparted great flavor to the soup. Note:  I would not used store bought dried herbs, they are too finely crushed.

I was only making a small pot of soup, feel free to increase all the quantities for a larger pot.

A note on vegetables – I prefer to feed my family organic vegetables whenever possible.  All the vegetables I grow are organic.  We have a few (very few) organic farmers locally, and they are worth any extra cost.  There are other farmers whom I know use as little chemical as possible, I buy from them as well.  Then there is other locally grown or organic produce from the grocery store, which of the two is preferable to me depends on the specific food item.  My general order of preference is:

1. Grown in my garden
2. Bought from local farmers who grow organically
3. Bought from local farmers whose growing practices I know and approve of, even if they are not organic
4. Non-local organic
5. Local non-organic

There is nothing like chicken (or turkey) soup to calm the senses and heal both body and soul.

Turkey (or Chicken) Vegetable Soup

1 quart of home-made turkey or chicken stock

Bouquet garni made from:

1 Tbsp dried basil (from the garden)

1 Tbsp dried parsley (from the garden)

1 tsp dried oregano (from the garden)

1 tsp dried thyme (from the garden)

5 dried sage leaves (from the garden)

1 bay leaf

1 parsnip, peeled and sliced/chopped (locally grown)

2 organic carrots, sliced

1 leek, white part only, sliced and chopped (locally grown)

2 stalks organic celery, sliced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place the stock in a medium pot. Add the bouquet garni and vegetables.  Bring to a boil, lower heat to low, cover and simmer for at least 1/2 hour (longer is better).

Serve with crackers or good bread. Enjoy!

Serves 4.

Cooks note – You can add pasta or noodles, just increase the heat to a good simmer and cook until the pasta is cooked through.

Related articles

• Spring Vegetable and Turkey Soup (everydayhealth.com)
• Hearty Vegetable Chicken Soup (terridawn.wordpress.com)
• Bouquet Garni Basics (dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com)