Mushroom Asparagus and Barley Vegetable Soup

I shopped several days ago and the mushrooms I bought were starting to develop brown areas. Time for another soup!

When prepping asparagus, always grab a spear and give it enough pressure to break on its own. It'll break at the juncture between tender and tough. Bag up the tough lower parts, and freeze, to simmer with other vegetable scraps for soup stock at another time.

2+# asparagus

24oz. mushrooms

I cut off the brown areas on the mushrooms then sliced them onto a baking pan. Drizzle these, the asparagus, unpeeled garlic and 5 or 6 halved campari tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil and season with garlic and herb seasoning. (I didn't use the seasonings OR the chicken broth base in the first photo.)

Preheat your oven to 400° then roast these vegetables 30-40 minutes. Cool just a little, then take the peels off the garlic and the tomatoes.

While those are roasting, sauté the carrots, celery and red bell pepper, shown, in extra virgin olive oil. Put the roasted vegetables on the cleanest pan, rinse the other with fresh cold water, using the caramelized water to flavor the vegetables in the pot.

Simmer the vegetables in the pot, with 1/3c pearled - long cooking - barley, for 15 minutes then add the roasted mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes and garlic. Add 2-4 additional cups of cold, fresh water, and bring back to a simmer. Cover and let simmer on low heat for another 40 minutes. Check the flavoring and add whatever is needed.

The mushrooms and asparagus had a dark, rich tone to them, so I switched to beef broth base, 2-3T, instead of the chicken.

This would be great with some crusty garlic bread. . .Lin

Zuppa Verde Con Orzo — (green soup w/ barley)

Somehow, this soup reminds me of Italy 😃 so I gave it an Italian name. Zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach. It's all red, green and white - Italy's national colors. 

Simmer the barley for about half an hour until still chewy, but plumped up. Drain, rinse in cool water, to get rid of the excess starch off, then set it aside in the strainer.

• 2/3c pearled barley
• 1-1/2c± water

In a 5-6 quart pot, combine the following rough-chopped vegetables with the EVOO and simmer-saute, stirring often, for about a half hour. 

• 2-3T good quality EVOO
• 5 cloves sliced garlic
• 2 med. zucchini
• 1 sm. onion
  
• 2-3T sliced poblano pepper
• 1/3 lg. head of green cabbage
• 10-12oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
• celery heart (keep the greens for later)
• 1t fresh ground pepper
• 1T dried herbs and garlic
• 2T BTB chicken or vegetable soup base
• 6c fresh cold water - a little at a time

• 1 can of stewed tomatoes
• 3 green onions
• celery greens
• 6oz. frozen chopped spinach

At the end of the half hour, add the cooked-rinsed-drained barley, chopped tomatoes with juice, and the rest of the chopped-sliced ingredients. Bring again to a simmer, cover and remove from the heat.  Let the flavors blend 15 minutes before serving. This is so good! Perfect with some crusty, whole-grain Italian sourdough bread or Norwegian crispbread.

Mmmm!

It's Cold Outside ❄️ Perfect Soup Weather! . . Lin

Bean and Barley Vegetable Soup

I needed a big pot of vegetable soup!  

I made this one with turkey bone broth from our Christmas turkey, so it wasn't vegetarian or vegan. All the turkey was gone by the time I simmered the bones. . .but it sure was good while it lasted! And now. . .there's soup!

1c medium brown beans

Rinse and sort the beans, watching for little pebbles. Cover the beans with fresh cold water and simmer 20 minutes. Repeat this process at least 3 times, testing the beans for doneness after the 3rd simmer. Drain, spray with cold water and let drain in a colander.

Put 2-3T EVOO in a 4 quart pot, and add the following:

• 3c chopped carrot, celery and onion
• 1/2c pearled barley - long cooking

• 1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes
• 3 bay leaves, 1T garlic and herb seasoning, 2-3T dried chives, 1T BTB soup base
• 5 BIG garlic cloves - minced

Sauté the chopped vegetables and barley several minutes then add seasonings, tomatoes, garlic and 3c bone broth. Simmer on low heat 45 minutes. Add another 2c bone broth, stir and check the flavors. Simmer another 20 minutes or so then serve with crusty bread, biscuits or cornbread. . .Lin

A Simple Lamb and Barley Soup

 1½ # lamb plus a lamb shank

3-4 carrots

2 ribs of celery

6-8 cloves of garlic

1-1½c chopped onion

1t-1T Rosemary Seasoning *

1-2T Better Than Bouillon beef flavor

⅔-1c barley

I tried a different technique this time.  Instead of browning all the lamb first, I took off all the fat, cut it in cubes and simmered it at a low-medium boil, with the whole shank in 4 quarts of water, for about an hour.  After removing the meat, I strained the broth several times then chilled it overnight.  This morning, I skimmed off as much of the fat as I could, and strained it again to get the sediment out.  You want the broth as clear as possible.

Combine the chopped vegetables, cubed lamb and butter,  Saute' for 10-15 minutes, until your kitchen smells wonderful! 😊 Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the barley is done.  I bought quick cooking (20 minute) barley by mistake, but it turned out well.  The vegetables and barley were just right at the same time.  Today it's going to be hot here, with high humidity, but for me - it's always Soup Season! . . . Lin

Beef Barley Soup

1½# lean beef - cubed

¼ lg. onion - chopped

1-2T extra virgin olive oil

Saute' the beef and onion until liquid absorbs and the meat begins to brown in a 4-5 quart pot.  Add a little water and allow to brown again.  Repeat this a couple times until meat is nicely browned.

Chop or slice the vegetables shown into the pot with the browned meat.  Saute for a few minutes, adding a little water if needed.  Add a quart of beef broth, ¾c of long cooking barley, the tomatoes, 1T of sugar and 1-2T of Rosemary Seasoning *


For a simplier, meatier broth, omit the tomatoes.  Simmer on low-medium heat for an hour.  Check the flavor, adding more seasoning or water if necessary.  This makes about 4 quarts of soup. . .Lin

Cooked Kale Slaw with Barley

¾c long cooking pearl barley

2c± water

Marketside Kale Slaw

Cook the barley for about 25 minutes, add half the package of Kale Slaw (from WalMart).  Cook, covered, another 20 minutes or so, keeping an eye on the water in the pot, adding a little more if needed.

When barley is done, toss, season and serve as is, as a side to chicken, beef or fish - or - add ½c roasted pumpkin seeds the last 5 minutes.  Season and serve as a vegan main dish.

The rest of the package could be served as a salad with nuts or seeds, drizzled and tossed with an Asian Sesame salad dressing.  I did that, but forgot to take a picture.  This mix of shredded cruciferous vegetables would also be great in soup. . .Lin

Scotch Broth - Lamb and Barley Soup

1¼# of lean lamb

1-2T avocado oil

1-2t white balsamic vinegar

1 lg. purple shallot

1-2t Rosemary Seasoning *

4 med. carrots - scrubbed

1½c chopped celery and tops

¾c long cooking pearl barley

1-2T flour

2-3 quarts water

3 bay leaves

1 lg. purple shallot 

1 sweet yellow pepper

Vegetable Better Than Bouillon

Trim the fat off the lamb then cut the meat into small cubes.  Put in a 4-5 qt. pot with the oil, vinegar, minced shallot and Rosemary Seasoning.  Sauté and stir until the meat begins to brown.

  

Add the chopped carrots, celery, barely and continue to stir and cook until everything's sizzling.  Sprinkle on the flour and stir it in.  Pour in the water, a little at a time. Add bay leaves, rough chopped shallot, slice-chopped pepper, stir to combine everything, cover and simmer on low a half hour.  Check flavor, and make any corrections.  Soup will be ready when celery and carrots are tender and the barley is just a little chewy.

Mmmmm. . . Soup's On! . . Lin

Lamb and Barley Soup (a.k.a. Scotch Broth)

¾# well trimmed lamb

⅓ big purple shallot - minced

½t fresh ground black pepper

½t rosemary seasoning *

1-2T butter

1c chopped celery

1c chopped carrot

½c long-cooking pearl barley - rinsed

1-2T vegetable Better Than Bullion

fresh cold water

2 giant garlic cloves - chopped

rest of the shallot - sliced

If I were ever told I could only make one type of soup for the rest of my life - this would be the one!  After trimming the fat, cut the lamb into small pieces and combine with the remaining ingredients in a 3 quart pot.  Heat on medium-high heat until the water in the meat evaporates, and the lamb begins to brown.  Add a little water, stir and repeat the browning and deglazing several times to build flavor.  Add the next group of ingredients with about 3 cups of water.  Cover and simmer for half an hour, then add the garlic and shallot, adding more water if needed.  Re-cover and simmer another half hour.

You can serve this as soon as the vegetables and barley are cooked, but I'd recommend chilling then reheating it several hours or a day later.  The flavors build nicely by doing this, making it a great, hearty soup to cook the day before.  The barley provides enough good carbs, but if you are a bread person, some warm, buttered potato rolls would go great with a big steamy bowl of this.😊. . . Lin

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

Barley-Vegetable (Shrimp) Spring Rolls

1 med. carrot - grated

1 pickling cucumber

4 sm. green onions

1c romaine lettuce

½c cabbage

4 radishes

1T soy sauce

juice of half a lime

1c cooked barley

cooked, frozen salad shrimp*

rice papers

Well. . .this is my first attempt at making these!  They're something I really love, so it'll be a fun, new adventure!  My daughter was on a Spring Roll spree a couple years ago and I guess I just wasn't ready to expand into that area back then.  But lately, every time I have them, I swear I'm going to try making my own.  A couple days ago at the grocery store, in the Asian food section, what should I see. . .Rice Papers!!  Just begging to come home with me 😃 Sooo, I think today's the day!

Next time I make these I'll use sliced avocado and rice noodles, but now I have a little leftover barley from a casserole I made yesterday, so I'll use some of that in each one for my 'starch.'  I mostly thin-sliced or chopped the vegetables - since I wanted to mix them all with the barley, lime juice and soy sauce - rather than cut them in julienne strips and layer them on the rice paper.  Maybe I'll do that next time.  Once all the vegetables are combined with the barley and liquid ingredients, stir well.

When you're ready to assemble the Spring Rolls, put a little hot water about 2" deep in a large frying pan.  Dip the rice papers, one half at a time, into the water for just a couple seconds each.  Lay the damp rice paper on a large, smooth cutting board.  Begin assembling the ingredients in lines.  In my case today, just 2 lines.  Start rolling on the vegetable side by putting the crescent shaped flap over them.  Roll tightly one time around.  Now put the left and right edge of the rice paper on top and continue to roll, including the shrimp *omit if you'd rather keep this vegan.  Roll to the end, making sure the rice paper sticks to itself.  If not, rub on a little more water to the edge of the flap rolling last.

I found a YouTube video, demonstrating this spring roll technique.  I combined several ideas to create a slightly spicy Hoisin Peanut Dipping Sauce.

1T toasted sesame oil

2 lg. cloves garlic

1T peanut butter

⅓c hoisin sauce

½t± garlic chili sauce*

3T water

1T honey

Put the oil and finely-minced garlic in a small pan over medium-high heat.  Stir occasionally until the garlic is browned.  Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients.  If you don't have garlic chili sauce you could substitute *sriracha sauce.  Stir until blended and serve with the spring rolls.  Mine turned out a little messy and loose, certainly not like those I've had in Thai and Vietnamese restaurants!  Practice needed!  This recipe will make about 12 spring rolls.  If you have leftover barley and vegetables, you can serve it in a little bowl with some toasted sesame dressing for a different take on an Asian salad. . .😋. . .Lin

Clean Out The 'Fridge Vegetable Soup

5 ears of corn - steamed - cut off cob

2 large carrots - scrubbed and sliced

1 med. onion - sliced

5-6 lg. cloves of garlic - chopped

1/2 head of green cabbage - rough chopped

1 Anaheim pepper - seeded and sliced

3 mini peppers - seeded and sliced

5 sm.-med. turnips - peeled and diced

2-3T coconut oil - or butter

1 lg. red roasted pepper - chopped

green onion tops - sliced

1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes - chopped

3/4c barley, rice or orzo

Combine everything, down to and including the coconut oil, in a 5-6qt. pot.  If using rice, add that now.  Sauté all together until it's sizzling and snapping 😊 Add the remaining ingredients and some water.  Simmer an hour, covered.  Serve now with crusty buttered bread.  Keeps well refrigerated for several days. . .Lin

Beef Barley Soup

1 med. onion

2T butter
2c chopped celery
2c chopped carrot
1 med. yellow onion
1/2c Cabernet 

3c leftover prime rib
2T roasted granulated garlic
1/2t ground black pepper
3/4c barley

3c leftover dipping juices

Left - Fat and Scraps — — Right - 3c Soup-Ready Beef

Cut up the leftover beef into 1/2" cubes, being careful to cut off all the fat.  Put the fat and scraps in a pot and covered with about 3-4c of water, adding 2t ground rosemary, a couple bay leaves and 1/2t pepper.  Simmer this covered, on low-medium heat for about 15 minutes.  Scoop out all the solids and discard.  Strain the liquid and put it in the freezer for a couple hours.

About an hour later, sauté the chopped onion, celery and carrot in butter.  When it's sizzling, add the wine, cover and let simmer 10 minutes, adding the beef, garlic, pepper and barley toward the end.  Turn off heat and let stand to soak up the flavors.  Skim the fat off the broth that was chilling in the freezer.  Strain this again and add to the pot.  Bring this to a nice simmer.

Cover and let cook for 40-60 minutes until the vegetables and barley are cooked.  Add more water and beef soup starter if needed to stretch this into a bigger pot of soup.  This would be really good with crusty garlic bread or cheese biscuits. . .Lin

Lamb and Barley Soup

1# ground or cubed lean lamb

12oz. Pale Ale

1 med. onion

1½c chopped celery

2 med. chopped carrots

3 lg. cloves minced garlic

¾c pearled barley

Saute' the lamb with 1/3 onion, finely chopped in a little butter or olive oil. Brown and deglaze with a little of the ale at a time until meat is very brown. Pour in remaining ale, add all the vegetables and barley. Stir and simmer a few minutes.

Add 4-6c water. Bring soup to a low boil, simmer until barley is done, approximately an hour. Half way through this time, check broth for flavor, adding beef soup base as needed. Serve with a tossed salad and/or crusty bread. . .Lin 

Beef Barley Soup

 1# chuck tender steaks

~ cut in cubes

2T butter

2T Balsamic vinegar

~ or ~ a little beer

3 sliced carrots – sliced

3 stalks celery – chopped

2 medium onions – chopped

1 15oz. can diced tomatoes

½c long cooking pearl barley

seasonings, beef soup base

Brown the meat in butter and vinegar (or beer). Add vegetables and saute' a little while then add the tomatoes, 2-3 cans of water and the barley. Season with sea salt, fresh ground peppers or whole peppercorns and some dry beef soup base. Serve with corn bread or slabs of crusty Italian bread. . .Lin

Lamb and Barley Soup

1-1½# leftover lamb roast

2 med onions chopped

4 med carrots chopped

3 stalks celery chopped

leftover gravy or pan drippings

¾c barley (long cooking, not quick)

Brown leftover lamb cut in cubes. Add onion, 2T butter and 2c water. Stir in the vegetables, gravy or pan drippings and barley. Combine and bring to a simmer. Cook on low heat, covered for an hour or so. Add some Rosemary Seasoning then check flavors and add whatever is needed. Serve with crusty bread. . .Lin

Lamb Barley Soup

This is made with leftover leg of lamb and gravy which was thickened with flour.

2c lamb cut off the bone and cubed

1 lg. onion – chopped

3-4 carrots – scrubbed and slice-chopped

3 stalks celery – slice-chopped

1 small sweet-hot pepper – sliced

2/3c regular barley (not quick cooking)

~ ~ Put all the above into a 5 quart pot with:

1T butter

1T balsamic vinegar

2T extra virgin olive oil

Simmer-saute' covered on very low heat until everything's quietly sizzling and the water is coming out of the vegetables. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or so. Increase heat and stir-fry it for an additional 5-10 minutes to get the meat, vegetables and barley browned a little. Meanwhile, start to prepare the gravy.

2c cold leftover gravy

3-4 bay leaves

Rosemary Seasoning

Pour the gravy into a strainer and let it stand a few minutes. Gently stir but don't force any of the heavier parts through, that may have separated. You should have end up with about 1c of darker brown, semi-clear gravy. Add this to the pot along with 5-6 cups of water, bay leaves and Rosemary Seasoning.

Simmer about 45 minutes covered. By now the vegetables and barley should be cooked. Check the flavors. If too weak, add some beef soup base. Tonight I'm having this with very crusty Whole Grain Sourdough French Bread. It would also be good with Baking Powder Biscuits. Ahhhh, perfect for a rainy, late fall day :) . . . Lin