Ground Turkey, Salami, Barley Vegetable Soup

The soup title sounds weird, doesn't it?  I was going to make stuffed peppers today, but didn't feel like putting it together.  I just decided to try and use up a bunch of odds & ends food leftovers in the fridge.  So, soup it was.  It morphed into an interesting hodgepodge potage and I still had a few things I couldn't fit into the pot...

• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb extra lean ground turkey
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Parmesan cheese rind
• 1/2 lb of salami, diced
• 6 cups of low sodium chicken broth (I used "Better than Bouillon")
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/2 lb of white mushrooms, sliced and quartered
• 2 handfuls of haricot vert, sliced in 1 inch pieces
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 2 large handfuls of organic baby spinach
• 1 cup of dried gourmet mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups of boiling water till re-hydrated, then chopped.  Broth then strained into soup
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, whole but sliced open
• 2 cups Napa cabbage, sliced thin
• 1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup of pearl barley
• 1/4 cup of Israeli couscous harvest grains mix (leftover and wanted to use it up)
• 2 bay leaves
• Tablespoon of "Kitchen Bouquet" seasoning to color the anemic turkey
• Fresh cilantro, thyme, dill, basil & Italian parsley tied with kitchen twine
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• Fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt, to taste

I did all my chopping first.  At least my "absent sous chef" cleaned my kitchen spotless so I had that bonus when I started...I have to be honest.  I got these new expensive German knives and I love chopping now.  It's so easy and so fast when you have good knives!  I don't know why I waited so long to invest in proper knives...

I sauteed the onion, garlic, white mushrooms, salami and turkey first.  I added the "Kitchen Bouquet".  Then everything else except the spinach went into the pot.

I brought to a boil and then simmered on very low for 45 minutes.  I fished out the bay leaves, cheese rind, herbs and jalapeno, then added in the spinach.

5 minutes later it was time to serve.  I made a country bread grilled cheese for my son to eat with his soup.  Below, is his dinner tonight.

The broth in the soup was terrific!  The salami gave a nice flavor and saltiness - who knew?  All in all, it was a pleasant surprise.  Will I ever make it exactly like this again?  No, but it turned out well for using what I could get rid of in my fridge. I really don't like to waste food.  No complaints.  Some will get it for lunch tomorrow and then it will end up in the freezer for easy soup some other time...