Homemade Vegetable Soup

I was raised on home cooking where most everything was made from scratch. One of our family favorites was chicken noodle soup. Not just any ordinary chicken noodle soup. The soup my great grandmother made.

I was fortunate enough to have a great grandmother into my mid 30's. I had a sweet relationship with her for many reasons. We lived nearby and I was the first great grandchild. Although I'm not sure the latter contributed to our relationship. We would have dinner in her home on regular occasions. My father's request of his grandmother was her homemade chicken noodle soup.

As she aged, her homemade dinners were less frequent. I stopped by her home still and tried to get as much information about cooking, family history, and other things that she would know. I knew our time would come to an end.

Our family wanted to duplicate her chicken noodle soup so I got her recipe. She took a whole chicken and put it in a pot with water to simmer. She was careful to mention that boiling it would not produce a clear broth. We tried it and it didn't taste as good as hers, of course. Did we expect it to?

On winter days, I can still taste her soup in my memory almost as vividly as when I ate at her table. As the temperatures drop, my cooking tends to default to my childhood comfort food. Once I moved to Florida, my desire for comfort food didn't surface very often because the temperatures don't fall as far. My first couple years in Florida, I was in a year round July daze. This is the first year I have a sense of seasons. It's still not the same as up north.

I got the urge for great grandma's soup and thought I'd try my hand at it again. I looked around for ingredients at home and found a turkey neck, heart, and gizzard in the freezer. There are almost always onions, garlic, carrots, and seasoning around.

I live in a meat free zone, a decision my husband made for the health of the family. We're not vegan and so I used the turkey neck and parts to make a broth. I simmered it to maintain a clear broth. Skimmed the fat and pulled out the turkey parts next. In went chopped onions, garlic, cabbage, and carrots. I cooked rice separately and added it later.

Clear broth, skimmed fat, and remainder of turkey meat.

Simmering with carrots, onions, garlic, and cabbage. 

 Final product with rice.