Vegetable Bean Barley Soup

Continuing on in the spirit of Cleaning out the Cabinets, here is another recipe to use several of my pantry ingredients. This is a delicious soup for a cold winter day (or ice storm as the case may be!).

Here’s what I did:

Soak 1/3c each of adzuki beans, red kidney beans, and black eyed peas (or beans of your choice) overnight

Pressure cook 2 whistles. After cooling, Keep half the beans in the freezer for the next soup!

Cook 1/3 c barley in 1 1/3c water by bringing it to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 20 min. In the meantime,

Heat oil, add mustard seeds, 4 shallots (all veggies mentioned should be chopped). Once they turn translucent add 3 cloves of garlic, 2 carrots, 2 red potatoes, 2 dried red chilies and 1 TBS Italian herb blend. Stir it around and saute for a few minutes. Then add 3 big leaves of swiss chard, 2 tomatoes, 2 c vegetable broth, cooked barley and any extra liquid, 1c cooked beans, 1c water, chili paste or hot sauce, 1 bay leaf, salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until potatoes are done. Then add in 2c baby spinach, 2 spring onions and a handful of cilantro. To serve top it off with freshly ground black pepper, coarse sea salt, grated parmesan and/or nutritional yeast flakes.

Whew, that’s a lot of healthy goodness!

I was so lucky to receive a lovely gift basket in an exchange party before the holidays. I should’ve posted a pic before! It had some nice french milled soap, a soy based candle, hand cream, a small jar of “holiday” jam, lake champlain dark chocolate bar (used in the tiramisu), and the salt that you see in the picture above. The salt blend has dried lemon peels and fennel seeds and really adds a nice touch to the soup. I just discovered how nice fennel is in soup when I made the potato kale soup last year. If you don’t have this salt, you may want to add fennel seed to your soup. It adds a whole new dimension.

I’m sending this(a tad bit late) to Hearth and Soul event, which already has over 80 entries, wow!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I know it doesn’t look like it much, but I really do try to cook and eat healthily! Lately though, I’ve just been feeling a little indulgent. I’ve had too many sweets, way too much cheese, carb overloads. Ahh, well…. I guess after the new year I may get back to being good. But for my last recipe of 2010 lets make it a great one! A delicious creamy, cheesy soup! My favorite soup, actually.

• 1 bag frozen broccoli or 1 lg head of broccoli cut
• 2 carrots grated
• 2c water or veg broth
• 2Tbs butter
• 5 shallots or 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbs flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 TBS dijon or whole grain mustard
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp hot sauce or chili paste
• 1 tsp pepper
• salt to taste
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1c  shredded cheese (this time I used sharp cheddar, gruyere, and raclette- a french cheese I had never seen before, so I had to buy it! I recommend to include sharp cheddar – you can also use only cheddar and not a blend)
• dash of seasoned rice vinegar (optional)

Cook the broccoli and grated carrot in the water or veg broth. I just this year discovered Imagine “no chicken” vegetable broth and I think its really good. Before that I would use water, and sometimes to flavor the water more, boil along onions and garlic and some dried herbs, its your choice. Cool and blend together lightly, but not too much. I like to still have some cute little flowerettes in the soup.

Heat butter and sautee the garlic and onion till translucent. Sprinkle flour over it, while stirring, trying not to form lumps. You may need to use a whisk. Let the flour cook for a few minutes while stirring, so it does not taste raw. Stir in the milk slowly, while stirring constantly. Then add the broccoli. Bring to a simmer and add the mustard, turmeric, chili powder, hot sauce/chili paste, pepper, salt, pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Once it thickens (you may need to add extra milk or broth if its too thick) turn off the heat and stir in the cheese until fully melted. Lastly add a dash of rice vinegar to perk it up (optional).  Measurements are approximate, because I didn’t really measure and you may like more or less. Its nice with a garnish of shredded cheddar or chopped spring onions and a couple slices of crusty bread (italian or sourdough for example).

Enjoy! I made this a week ago, and wish I had a bowl of it right now!

Sending this to “Only Greens” event  by Sara and Pari

Potato Kale Soup

When I saw this recipe from Saveur I started craving soup. I looked around a bit and also found this one.  Tuscan or Brazilian? Either way its delicious. I based this recipe roughly on both of those. Also, I had really planned to make croutons from some stale ciabatta bread but it had gotten too hard… so… breadcrumbs instead!

• 1-2TBS butter
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 potatoes, chopped (I used 2 yukon gold and 1 russet)
• 2-3 c Imagine brand “no chicken” vegetable broth
• chopped kale- a bunch (10 big leaves, stems removed)
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1tsp dried italian herb blend
• salt, pepper
• rice vinegar (a sprinkle)
• freshly grated parmesan or stravecchio (or nutritional yeast for vegan)

So begin by heating the butter and olive oil together and add the mustard seeds, then fennel seeds. I really love the fennel in this! Toss in the onions and stir them around, followed by the garlic. Let them get translucent while you chop the potatoes. Add them to the party once the onions are cooked enough (mine started to turn golden brown). Add the broth or water enough to cover the potatoes, cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Press your wooden spoon around to break up some of the potatoes. Toss in the additional herbs and spices and add the kale. If needed add some more broth. Cover again and cook a few minutes. At this point I felt it needed something to “perk up” the flavors. I was considering lemon juice, then I remembered the vinegar. It really did brighten the dish! Garnish with grated cheese.

JF feels it needs something crunchy (blasted crouton fail!), but we both thought it was still really good and perfect for a cool fall day. Makes 4 small bowls or 2 large ones.

Submitting this to Bookmarked Recipes!

Hearth and Soul !

And also to My Meatless Mondays !