Vegetable Soup with Rutabaga

For Christmas Day we were served delicious vegetable soup. And now that we're back home it turns out we have a lot of vegetables, so here is an attempt to recreate the Christmas Day soup.

Also, I should mention that at the store I sometimes buy things that I don't recognize just so I can try something new. I bought a Swede, which it turns out is a Rutabaga, at least according to Wikipedia. (Which never lies, right? It also says it's a mix between a turnip and cabbage.) Apparently the Christmas Day soup had "neeps" in it, which in Scotland can mean a turnips or other similar vegetables.

Ingredients

1/2 Swede/Rutabaga, peeled and cubed

3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups carrots, peeled and cubed

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups (or more, if needed) vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

2 cups barley (1 cup would probably be better)

Prepare all the vegetables. Combine all the vegetables in a large stock pot (we ended up having to use an even larger one when we added the barley, so make sure there's lots of room.)

This is what the Rutabaga looked like peeled and cubed:

And here are all the vegetables:

Add the other ingredients, except for the barley, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the barley and continue to simmer until the barley is fully cooked. You may need to add some vegetable stock. Season as desired and serve.

Just so you know, it was all about the Army in the North country.

And terracotta masks.