Beef Barley Soup 😃

This is today's version of one of my favorite all time soup creations, modeled after an old Campbell's soup called Scotch Broth. A simple beef barley type soup - but made with lamb. What a difference that makes! Lamb is a little like elk and venison with a stronger flavor that people seem to either love or hate. 

I started by partially thawing what looked like a beef roast I bought last fall in an International Market in the cities, but the label says Beef Knuckle! Strange, since it's boneless, but the meat looks like round steak only much thicker.

I cut off the fat, leaving 20oz. of meat that was mixed with part of a purple onion, finely chopped in a big pot with equal parts EVOO and Marsala cooking wine - about 3oz. each. Seasoned with my blend of finely ground black+cayenne, and a little garlic salt. After mixing, I let it marinate about an hour and a half.

Meanwhile, the vegetables shown in this photo were sliced or chopped. Heat the meat to sizzling, for about 15 minutes, stirring often, then add the celery and carrot pieces, which take longer to cook than the rest.

Bring everything in the pot to a sizzle again, cover and cook for another 15 minutes. Add a little water if needed.

Next chop half a green pepper and half a large purple onion and add those to the pot along with an undrained 28oz. can of petite diced tomatoes, 2 big spoonsful of low sodium beef Better Than Bouillon and a couple cups of water.

Bring this to a simmer then add 3/4c of long cooking barley that was rinsed several times, along with chopped celery greens and more water if needed.

Cover and simmer 40 minutes, or until the barley is done, if you're having the soup right away. If not, only simmer once the barley is added, for about 20 minutes, chill and reheat later. This turns the barley into resistant starch which is a much healthier option than when it's just been cooked.

Barley absorbs a LOT of liquid. You may have to add more water, and seasonings when you heat this or it could go from soup to a beef-vegetable-barley casserole. . .but that can be a good option too. .😉. .Lin

Tomato-Vegetable Bisque - gluten + dairy-free

This one's been rolling around my brain a while now. It was such a fun soup to make!

Chop the vegetables however you want - you don't need to spend a lot of time on this. Everything will be combined and smoothed out with your regular or immersion blender, at the end of the cooking time.

We don't want the vegetables overcooked, so begin with those that require the most heat time, the celery and carrots. Sauté them in coconut oil, with your seasonings*, either in a frying pan -or- covered in your crockpot on high.

Chop the onions and 1/2 of the green pepper for later.


This was an especially fun recipe for me since I gave away my 6 quart Nesco crockpot several years ago and I finally missed it. This is the inaugural event for my new little 4 quart gem - it's a keeper!

Once the vegetables have sizzled for a half hour or so, I added the onions and green pepper and continue sautéing another half hour. Next, a cup or two of homemade chicken bone broth, or vegetable broth if you're keeping this vegan, 3 bay leaves and all the tomatoes (56oz. total) go into the pot. Cook on high, or like I did since I made this late in the day, on low overnight until the vegetables are blendable. 

Remove the bay leaves, then blend until everything's smooth, check the flavors and make any needed adjustments to the seasonings. Add 1 can Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk and whisk that in until everything's combined. Heat again to serving temperature.

I stirred in some dry dill and topped with a sprinkle of sprouted pumpkin seeds to go with a really great sourdough grilled cheese sandwich. . .Cliché but so good! . .Lin

*Better Than Bouillon Chicken-or-Vegetable base, bay leaves, garlic salt, black+cayenne pepper, 1T sugar

Chicken Vegetable Soup with Wide Egg Noodles

I've found that the secret to avoid mushy noodles is not putting them right into the soup pot while all the other ingredients are simmering.

I cook them separately until half way done and still quite chewy. Drain, rinse and soak them in icy cold water. When they're very cold to the touch, drain again and put aside for now.

Another wonderful benefit to doing this is the noodles become what's know as Resistant Starch.

The method I outlined above is the quick version. Click on this ↑ link for directions and the science supporting this chilling and reheating technique.

Chop-slice all the vegetables then separate them by cooking time. Start with those that require the most time in the pot. Here, it's carrots, celery sauteing in a generous amount of single origin EVOO, with a little of the purple onion.

Next, when everything in the pot has sizzled, over low-medium heat, for 10 minutes or so, add the chopped cabbage, the rest of the onion and sliced kale-making sure to strip the leaves off the tough center stem first.

Add seasonings. Today I added 3 bay leaves, about a 1/2T of Orange Pepper, some garlic salt and a couple big spoonsful of Better Than Bouillon soup base, along with about 48oz. of my most recent chicken bone broth - also about 1/3c of cooking Sherry that I forgot to include in this photo.

Simmer over heat just high enough to create a slow bubble, for about 40 minutes. Check the carrots and stop now or continue to simmer until they're cooked the way you like them.
Stir them into the pot, heat again to a low bubble and. . .Soup's Ready. . 😃. .Lin

Duck and Vegetable Soup

3 big carrots

4 ribs of celery

12 Brussels sprouts

2 big spoons of duck fat
1t-1T Lowry's Garlic Salt
1t black+cayenne pepper

1 big green pepper
3 seedless red mini peppers

6 sm.-med. Yukon Gold potatoes
6 big cloves of garlic
1 med. yellow onion
3 bay leaves

1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2c cooking Sherry
12oz. duck bone broth
24oz. fresh cold water
1/4-1/3c chicken Better Than Bullion
10oz. roasted duck meat

I melted a couple big spoons of the strange looking chartreuse rendered duck fat in a big heavy bottomed pot. (color is from the turmeric and oregano - although duck fat is also darker than chicken fat)

Sauté the  sliced carrots, celery and Brussels sprouts for about 5 minutes until they start to soften.

Add the second group of rough chopped vegetables, and about half the bone broth. Cover and simmer on low about 10 minutes.

Next add the final group of ingredients, cover and simmer another 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are done the way you like them. . .Lin

. . .And Yet Another Zuppa Toscana Variation

I'm sure getting lots of mileage from the one or possibly two times I ordered the Zuppa Toscana at the Olive Garden 15+ years ago! Sometimes it just works that way with those of us who are diehard 'foodies' You try something and just have to break it down, and analyze it so you can recreate it on your own whenever a crazy craving hits. And for me, every time I make it it's slightly different from the last!

This happened also after my first experience with Gazpacho at La Paella, a Spanish restaurant south of Madison, Wisconsin that's no longer in operation. Their's was different from most in that, in addition to the usual tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, etc., it had carrot, vinegar and a couple other unique ingredients. It was the best ever! I'll work on more Gazpacho again this summer. But, for now. . .it's Zuppa Toscana time! 

Heat a little EVOO in a heavy pot, then add:

1# pork sausage
1 lg. purple onion
~ use only 1/2c chopped fine right now

Saute these together until lightly browned.

Next the following sliced or chopped vegetables go into the pot:

1-2 lg. carrots

the rest of the purple onion
4 colorful -seeded- mini peppers
2 baby bok choy - white parts only for now
1-1/2# scrubbed potatoes - I don't peel mine
the sliced bok choy green tops
a bunch of dinosaur kale - take out the rib and slice

Sauté all this only until steamy and sizzling. Add 2c fresh cold water. Simmer a half hour, then stir in:

Several tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon - chicken or vegetable flavor. Also, (a couple bay leaves, dried oregano, marjoram, rosemary -or- a generous amount of some good Italian Seasoning) black and red pepper, granulated garlic and garlic salt. Add more water.

Next, add 2-3 drained-rinsed cans of your favorite beans, 3 tablespoons of finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and all or part of a 22oz. jar of Alfredo sauce. Add more water again if needed and check the flavors until you feel they're right. Simmer another half hour or so to blend the flavors and throw in some chopped, fresh parsley now if you want. This is great on a chilly Winter day. By itself or with a simple, fresh green salad and some crusty sourdough garlic bread. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Beef-Brussels Sprouts-Kale-Zucchini Stew

I grew up on beef stew as a child and didn't really like it much. I'm always looking for ways to change it up.

Also, other than when I'm making a big meatloaf, I rarely buy ground meat. However, I saw these black angus burgers and somehow just had to snap them up! I've quick pan fried them for dinner with steamed vegetables a couple times recently and they were excellent! 

Yesterday I decided to partially thaw two (1/2# total) and cut them into chunks. Leaving them like that almost makes this a meatball stew!

I stir-sauteed the carrots and celery, until everything was sizzling, in a little ghee, or you could use a good single source EVOO. Then added the ground beef chunks (resist the urge to break them up!) and sizzled everything a little longer. Meanwhile, I slice-chopped the green and yellow zucchini, Brussels sprouts, and green pepper. * After 5-10 minutes of sizzle time, I added those vegetables and a drizzle of bone broth to the pot. Simmer for several minutes.

Add 2c of bone broth, and turn up the heat so everything gets well warmed to bring out the flavors and the aromas start to waft your way.

I seasoned with about 1T of a salt-free ground vegetable blend, Himalayan pink salt, black + cayenne pepper and 2 big spoonsful of pure tomato paste. Last, I stirred in the chopped kale and green onions. Simmer everything until the kale wilts.

This was perfect for a late dinner last night with a big mug of ginger-turmeric herb tea.

This keeps and reheats well for several days in the refrigerator and would also freeze nicely. Then after a really busy day with work or with your children, it can be slow simmered for a hot, healthy dinner when you're just too tired to cook.

You could also add some *cubed Yukon Gold potatoes for a more hearty version. I didn't think of that when these ingredients were being prepped. Mmmm, this is good! . .Lin

Whole 30 - Chicken Vegetable Soup with Fennel, Lemon and Dill

Today is March 12th. While only 37° it's a beautiful, crisp, sunny Spring day! I have some crisp, fresh ingredients, so it was the perfect inspiration for this soup. Since I'm following the Whole 30 detox-elimination program, this contains no sugar, dairy or grains and is compatible with that plan.

I made a pot of chicken bone broth yesterday from a big, perfectly roasted chicken. Strained it repeatedly, then put it outside on my deck to chill. This morning I skimmed off the fat then simmered it with a few bay leaves. Meanwhile, I chopped the longest cooking vegetables to saute before putting them in the soup pot. 4 celery stalks and 3 medium carrots. While simmering those for 10 minutes or so, separate the fennel bulb from the fluffy fennel fronds and slice the bulb. Put the fronds aside for now.

Chop 1/4 large green pepper, slice-chop the fennel bulb and add both to the pot to simmer while chopping the potatoes, 5 large garlic cloves crushed and minced and snap peas. Stir in 2T± of chicken low-sodium Better Than Bouillon, half-1t black+cayenne pepper blend, 1t Himalayan pink salt, stir then cover and simmer on low. Chop the fennel fronds. Add those and 8oz. roasted chicken chunks. Stir, check the flavors add or balance the seasonings, adding 1-2t dry dill, 1/2 squeezed lemon putting them in the pot. Add water if needed. edit: I froze a quart of this and refrigerated the rest.

edit: When I scooped out some to reheat, the bone broth had gelled perfectly! For some reason this is always unpredictable. I don't vary my technique, nor the basic ingredients, so it must depend on the chicken. The more it gells, the more collagen it contains. Collagen is a very important protein to keep our skin and connective tissues healthy. Our bodies produce less of this as we age, so it's good to find a natural way to supplement. Well-gelled bone broth is an excellent source.

Heat to just bubbling, check doneness of the vegetables.
Ladle into soup bowls and serve. . .Mmmm. . .Happy Spring! .😊. .Lin

Chicken-Rice Vegetable Soup

I'm on an extend stay currently in Arizona. But with foodies, this doesn't mean our desire to create in the kitchen disappears. Grocery shopping and cooking in a new place can be so fun, especially if you're privileged enough to find an ethnic, or really good Farm Market. . .Cook Where You've Landed, a bit like Bloom Where You're Planted. Have fun with it. Today, I'm making this soup for someone who has a really bad virus, and that would be me!

2-3T single source EVOO

3-4 stalks of celery

3 big carrots

1/2 lg. onion

1 lg. clove garlic

1/3 lg. red pepper

2-3 quarts of fresh cold water

1/3 lg. head of green cabbage

2-3T Better Than Bouillon, chicken

1/2c white rice

6-10oz roasted chicken meat

Drizzle the EVOO into a 4-5 quart heavy pan, heat the oil, then add the sliced or chopped carrots and celery, stir them around a bit, add seasonings now if you'd like. Cover and listen close for a couple minutes. This should bring out a bit of water out so they won't scorch. Next add the aromatics. chopped onion, red pepper and finely chopped garlic. Stir around the pan until the cooking water evaporates. Then add a little of the measured water as needed and again, cover and cook, once it simmers, over low heat for a few minutes.

Add about 2/3 of the remaining water, cubed cabbage and the BTB chicken stock base. Stir, simmer another 5 minutes, then add the rice, cook 15 minutes, stir in the chopped chicken meat, stir, remove from the heat, cover and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Happy Creating! It's Always Soup Season . . . Lin

Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup

Cook 8oz. angel hair pasta about half way. Drain and rinse well in icy water. Rinse again every half hour, until you can add it to the soup, so it doesn't stick together.

4 stalks celery - 3 carrots - 3/4 lg. onion
14oz. chicken breast meat
5 big cloves of garlic - 1/3 head of green cabbage

Sauté the celery, carrots and onion in good quality extra virgin olive oil. When it starts snapping, add the chicken and be ready with a little water to keep it from sticking to the pot. Cook and stir for 10-15 minutes.

Add the minced garlic, cubed cabbage and continue cooking this way another couple minutes until the garlic scent reaches you.

Add 2 quarts of fresh cold water
3 bay leaves, soup base and seasonings you like

Stir, then simmer - covered another 15 minutes then add:

zest and juice of 1 lemon
2c small frozen peas

Cover and simmer until the carrots and celery and cooked the way you like. Add the pasta and bring everything back to a simmer. 

Cover and remove from the heat for a little while, to blend the flavors and be sure the pasta is done just right.

This is a good basic soup for summer, eating light or recovering from a virus. . .Lin

Chicken Potato Corn and Bean Chowder

Start by cooking 8 ears of fresh corn. When cool, cut the kernels off, then set aside, to add to the soup later. (or use 3-4 cans of corn)

Cut up everything shown in the 6 quart pot. Return it to the pot with 2T EVOO and sauté until it's all cooked about half way.

8oz. apple-gouda chicken sausage
3 med. carrots
6 big garlic cloves
3 sm. yellow onions
1/2 big Vidalia onion
1 long sweet red bell pepper
6 med. Yukon Gold potatoes - scrubbed

Season with black pepper, Lowry's Garlic Salt, 2-3T low sodium chicken Better Than Bouillon. Add 1 quart of chicken stock, and 4 bay leaves. Eventually, you'll add one more quart of stock. Let this all simmer about 20 minutes. You can stop now, cover and refrigerate everything in the pot and resume this tomorrow (which I did since it was late) or keep going.

Stir In:

8oz. frozen skinny green beans - cut up a bit

all the corn kernels.

Simmer this for 10 minutes or so, then add the chopped parsley and cubes of previously made, and frozen, browned butter and flour roux. Bring this to a low boil so the roux will thicken the broth. Cool this slightly so the next addition doesn't curdle. Combine 1 can of a cream-based soup with enough half and half to equal 2 cups, stir in a cup of chicken stock to loosen it up, and pour this into the pot.

Bring this to a low bubble-simmer, then turn off the heat. When this has cooled again, stir in about 8oz. of a good quality cheese spread and 1/2c Sherry cooking wine.

Bring everything back to a low bubble, ladle into big bowls and serve with crusty garlic bread. . .Lin 

Green Vegetable Sorghum Soup - gluten free

• 8 Brussels sprouts
• 1/3 med. green cabbage
• 8-10 white mushrooms
• 4 big garlic cloves-minced
• 3 stalks celery
• 3 green onions
• 1/2 lg. sweet red pepper
• a bunch of asparagus
• 3T each: Kalamata EVOO and butter

Wash, chop or slice the vegetables and add those to the oil and butter that's melted, and just starting to sizzle. (put the dark green onion tops and celery greens aside, for later)

Cook, stir just a few minutes, then reduce the heat.

Add 2-4 bay leaves, garlic salt, pepper, and 1-2 quarts of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth. Cover and simmer on low until the vegetables are tender.

I did NOT use the coconut milk. I did, however, make some sorghum and added about 1-1/2 cups of that, already cooked, to the soup at the end.

If you'd rather not add a grain or pasta, you could also blend the soup now. To give this more of an East Indian flavor, you could stir in coconut milk and a tablespoon ± of curry powder. Heat it to a simmer again before serving with some naan or warm crusty bread. . .Lin

Celery Vegetable Soup

Every once in a while, when grocery shopping, I discover some awesome vegetable to build a recipe around. On Tuesday I found some celery that was spectacular! I picked 2 and probably should have bought more. This went together quick and was a fun soup to make.

Snip the celery greens off the stalks and set aside, with the garlic chives, to add at the end of the cooking time.

Chop the vegetables and sauté together in 2-3T of butter in a big heavy bottom soup pot.

1 big bunch of celery
1 lg. Vidalia onion
4 sm. red potatoes
8 lg. cloves garlic
8oz. mushrooms
2 carrots

Season while cooking with pepper, garlic salt and a good salt-free herb blend.

Add 2-3 quarts of water and enough vegetable based Better Than Bouillon to give the broth the flavor you want. 

Simmer this for 30-40 minutes until the celery and carrots are cooked the way you like. I did NOT use the cream of mushroom soup shown. Instead, I added about half a can of coconut milk.

Serve chunky, or blend with an immersion or stand blender. Shown with Dubliner Crisps. Biscuits or warm crusty garlic bread would be nice with this too. . .Lin

Another Version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

Sauté the chopped vegetables together, with the cut up sausage, in a 5 quart soup pot.

Once they start to sizzle, add seasonings, reduce the heat, cover, but continue to stir occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Add a little water if it starts to stick to the pot.

10oz. apple gouda chicken sausage

1/2 lg. purple onion

1/4 green bell pepper

3 lg. garlic cloves

2 celery stalks

2 carrots

2T butter

1t garlic salt

1t black pepper

Next add the following, then bring to a low boil for another 10 minutes or so. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and continue to cook another 15 minutes.

24oz. chicken bone broth

24oz. fresh cold water

3T+ chicken soup base

4 bay leaves

1 bunch of kale - chopped

3 med. red potatoes - cubed

2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed

Stir in 1 can cream of potato soup ( or cream of mushroom, asparagus or celery). Check the seasonings and tweak it however necessary.

I added 2t smoked paprika, which gave it a nice smokey depth of flavor. . .Lin

Lemon Chicken Rice Soup

Have you ever eaten something that was SO good you felt like it put you back in balance - without even knowing you were out of balance? That's how I often feel after I've made a big pot of Lemon Chicken Rice Soup.

I have several variations here, and of course, none quite like the next. I made this one using the vegetable broth I made the other day, which was a darker broth due to the purple onion in my bag of frozen vegetable scraps. It really has a lot of flavor. This soup came together quick, and it's so good, I'll savor every bowlful!

3 carrots

3 stalks celery

a little purple onion

2T butter and EVOO

Sauté these vegetables together until their scents are released and the onion is slightly brown.

Add the rice, stir and keep on the heat until it snaps, adding a couple cups of vegetable broth, a little at a time, to keep everything from sticking to the pot.

⅓-½c Carolina gold rice

~ or any 20 minute white rice ~

2 quarts homemade vegetable broth

Next add the rest of the chopped vegetables shown, stir and let sizzle a minute or two before adding the remainder of the broth.

3/4c purple onion

1/2c bell pepper

5 garlic cloves

Now, stir in the following:

7oz. roasted chicken meat

zest of 1/2 lemon

juice of the whole lemon

fresh ground black pepper

a little salt or garlic salt

2-3T chicken Better Than Bouillon

Bring this to a low simmer, check the flavors and make any necessary adjustments. This would be a great soup to make for someone fighting a virus, or to keep the viruses away. . .Lin

Healing Vegetable Comfort Soup

Sauté the first group of chopped vegetables in a couple tablespoons of EVOO:

2 big carrots
1/2 lg. green pepper
1/2 head of green cabbage

1 qt. chicken bone broth

6 med. tomatoes or 28oz. can diced tomatoes

9 big cloves of garlic

1t salt free seasoning blend

1/2t black and cayenne pepper

1 dark green Romaine

1 drained can of corn

zest of a whole lemon

2-3T lemon juice

Let the first vegetables cook on low-medium heat a little while. Once they start to sizzle, stir in a little of the bone broth. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or so.

Today I used frozen tomatoes. As they thawed, they peeled and chopped easily at the popsicle stage.

Add the tomatoes, chopped garlic and seasonings. Stir in a couple tablespoons of chicken Better Than Bouillon, then simmer another 15 minutes. 

Slice then chop the Romaine. Add that and the corn, stir and bring back to a simmer. Cover, turn off the heat and just leave it on the burner 15 minutes before serving up nice steamy bowls, with some crusty garlic bread. 

This went together quickly and is a great comfort soup.

After a day or so, if you tire of the chunkiness, you could blend it. This almost turns it into a whole different soup! . .Lin