Lamb and Vegetable Healthy Grain Soup

lamb leg bone and 1# meat

1t Rosemary Seasoning *

4c water

3 med. carrots - chopped

2 stalks celery - chopped

½ green pepper - chopped

6 lg. cloves of garlic

3T butter or olive oil

½ lg. onion

⅓c wild rice

⅔c long cooking barley

3 bay leaves

1T dry parsley

½-1t dry thyme

½t Rosemary Seasoning *

2-3T powdered beef soup base

This soup is a throwback to the days before I was an adventurous cook. 😉  Back then, when I wanted soup, I'd buy cans of Campbell's Soup.  I'd make 'Quick Vegetable Soup' when my children were little, by combining a large can of Campbell's Vegetable Soup, and one can each of corn, green beans and diced tomatoes.  I'd just open the cans and put them all in a big pot, liquid and all.  Stir, heat and we'd have a big pot of soup in no time!  That brings back memories and actually still sounds good to me!  My favorite though was Campbell's Scotch Broth.  This recipe is my adaptation of that.  

Cut the fat off the meat, put it in a 3qt. pot with seasoning and water.  Simmer 45-60 minutes, remove meat, strain the broth several times with a successively smaller strainer each time.  When all the particles have been strained out, cover the pot and chill for a couple hours.  At the end of the chilling time, scrape any fat off the top of the broth.

Meanwhile, rinse the barley and rice in a strainer, to remove starch and grain powder.  Put strainer on a wad of paper towels.  In a 5qt. pot, combine vegetables, rice, and butter-oil.  Stir and saute' a few minutes until everything's snapping.  Add a cup or two of water, stir, add seasonings, cover and turn off the heat.

Cut meat off the bone and add to the vegetable pot.  When the broth is skimmed, pour into the large pot, simmer everything together about an hour, until the rice is cooked.  Check flavors and water amount, making any necessary adjustments.  I love this soup, it's one of my favorites.  It's a delicious, healing soup that makes me feel wonderful each time I have it. . 😊 . .Lin