Barley and Mushroom Pilaf

1 Cup onions, sliced
16 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 Cup pearl barley
5 Cup chicken or beef broth
salt to taste
2 tsp dill seed

1.  Saute onions and mushrooms until transparent.

2.  Add barley to onion mixture.  Then add stock, salt and dill.  Mix well.

3.  Pour into a casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Keep moist with additional stock or water.  Serve.

Sweet and Sour Lentil Casserole

6 Tbls barley
1 cup lentils, dried
3 1/2 cups water
1 onion chopped
2 carrots, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp sale
1 bay leaf
3 Tbls sugar
2 Tbls vinegar
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp prepared mustard

1.  Wash and dtrain barley and lentils.

2.  Combine lentils, barely, water, onion, carrots, mushrooms, salt and bay leaf.  Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.

3.  Strain and reserve liquid.  Remove bay leaf.  Put cooked mixture into a 2-qt casserole.

4.  Combine sugar, vinegar, 1/3 cup reserved liquid, garlic and mustard.  Pour over lentil mixture.

5.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  Serve.

Broccoli and Barley Soup

2 Tbls butter
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp rosemary, crushed
6 cups boullion (vegetable, chicken or beef)
3/4 cups pearl barley
2 -3 cups chopped broccoli
1/4 cup water

Saute onions, mushrooms, minced garlic and dried rosemary in butter.

Pour in 6 cups boullion and 3/4 cup pearl barley.

Simmer until barley is soft (about 45 minutes).

Stir in 2 -3 cups broccoli bits and simmer for 10-20 minutes over low heat.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Lentils in Tomato Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup lentils
2 cup water
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 cup chicken or beef bouillon
2 cup tomatoes, stewed
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbls vinegar

1.  Saute onions and garlic until onions are transparent.

2.  Add lentils, water and seasonings.

3.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Serve hot.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli - Thanks to Julie

1 Tbls plus 2 tsp olive oil
1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbls chili powder
4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chipotle chile
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups water
2 - 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed
1 - 14 oz can diced tomatoes
4 tsp lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1.  Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat.  Add sweet potato and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.  Add water and bring to a simmer.  Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

2.  Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to simmer, stirring often.  Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, and  minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

White Bean Cabbage Soup

4 Cup cabbage, shredded
2 Tbls water
1 onion, sliced thin
6 cups (beef, chicken or vegetable) broth
dash black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 Cup celery, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 Cup carrots, chopped and cooked
2 Cup white beans

1.  Cook cabbage, water and onion, covered, over low heat until golden brown and half-done.  Stir frequently.

2.  Add stock, black pepper and nutmeg.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 

3.  Saute celery and green onions.

4. Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Broccoli Cream Soup W/Green Onions

2 Cups Chopped onions
1 lb. fresh broccoli florets
2 Cups chicken or vegetable broth
6 Tbls. cream cheese
1 cup skim milk
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
3/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbls. olive oil

Cook onions in olive oil until translucent then add broccoli and broth.  Bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce to simmer.  Cover; simmer 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender.

Puree broccoli mix in blender.  Return pureed soup to pan over medium heat.  Whisk in cream cheese until melted.  Stir in milk, red pepper and salt.  Cook 2 minutes or until heated through.

Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup with Black Beans

1 - 15 oz can Pumpkin
1 - 14 oz can coconut milk
1 tsp (at a time) red Thai curry paste
water
2 tsp fine grain sea salt or more to taste

Put all ingredients in a pan over medium high heat - simmer.  Keep adding red curry paste and salt to taste.  Also add water to the texture you like.

Palak Daal

1 cup lentils (of your choice)
6 cups water
1/2 pound spinach, washed and finely chopped
1 Tbls ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 medium green chile peppers, minced 
2 tomatoes chopped (I used a can of stewed tomatoes)
1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbls butter
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tsp pure red chile powder
more salt to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

In a large pot over medium-high heat combine the lentils and water.  Bring to a boil, then add the spinach, ginger, turmeric, 3/4 of the green chilies, and all of the tomatoes.  Reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the lentils are extremely soft.  You may need to add a bit more water during the cooking process to keep the lentils soupy.  After an hour and a half, stir in the salt.


In a separate pan, heat the butter and cumin and fry until the cumin seeds start to pop.  Now add the red chile powder and fry for another 30 seconds.  Add this putter mixture to the lentils and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.  Taste, and season with more salt if needed.  Add a little lemon juice at this point.  Serve topped with cilantro and the remaining green chiles.

Baby Lima Soup with Chipotle Broth

Baby Lima Soup with Chipotle Broth

1 pound dried baby lima beans, picked over and rinsed
10 cups water
1 1/2 tsp garlic
2 Tbls olive oil
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin crescents
1 to 2 chipotles in adobo sauce
2 tsp fine grain sea salt
squeeze of lime juice

Pick over the beans, looking carefully for any pebbles or dirt clumps.  Rinse the beans, then combine them with the water and garlic in a heavy soup pot.  Bring the beans to an active simmer and cook for 30 - 40 minutes, until just a touch al dente and not mushy or falling apart.  Test their doneness by tasting; you really can't tell any other way.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat, add the onion, chipotles, and 2 tsp of the adobo sauce, and saute over medium high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the onion starts to soften.  You can always add more adobo sauce later for a spicier soup; just don't overdo it on the front end.

Add the salt and the onion-chipotle mix to the pot of beans and simmer gently for about 5 minutes to blend the flavors.  The broth should be thin, so add more water if needed.  Add more salt and more adobo a bit at a time if the flavors aren't popping.  Finish with a squeeze of lime if you like. 

Serves 6.

Tom Ka Kai

35 min / 15 minute prep

2 Tbls vegetabale oil
2 chicken breasts cut into 1" pieces
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz fresh mushroom, sliced (I like the portabella)
3 green onions, sliced
1 stalk lemongrass
1 inch fresh galangal root or ginger root, grated
2 red chilies
6 cups chicken stock
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1 1/2 Tbls lime juice
lime leaves
2 Tbls fish sauce
1/2 tsp brown sugar
fresh cilantro
fresh basil leaf


1.  Heat oil in wok and cook chicken until browned.
2.  Add mushrooms.  Cook until mushrooms are soft.
3.  To prepare the lemongrass, slice and mince the lower portion and reserve the stalk to flavor the soup.  The woody upper portion of the stalk will be removed later, so don't chop it up, simply score it by making a few superficial cuts in it to allow it to flavor the soup.
4.  Add the whites of the onions, reserving the green.  Add the minced lemongrass, grated galagal (or ginger) and chilies.  Warm through.
5.  Add the lemongrass stalk, lime leaves, chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and remaining onions (save some for garnish).  Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to allow flavor to blend well.
6.  Taste test and adjust flavors as follows:
Not salty enough - add more fish sauce
Too sour - add a little more brown sugar
Too spicy - add more coconut milk
Not spicy enough - add more chilies (I add sriracha)

7.  Ladle into soup bowls garnish with remaining green onions, cilantro and basil.

Variations:  Add more vegetables like red bell pepper.  Add wide rice noodles.  Make it vegetarian by increasing mushrooms in place of chicken and replace chicken stock with vegetable stock.

I'm going to call this:

Melodi's Creamy Carrot-Ginger Soup
(because she shared this recipe with me)

1 large onion, peeled and rough chopped
Grated zest of 1 large orange
5 pounds carrots, rough chopped, cut into 1" pieces
1 qt vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
2 tsp ginger peeled and chopped
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika, or to taste
2 Tbls soy sauce, or to taste
Cayenne to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
Dried thyme to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 cups skim milk (original recipe called for 1/2 and 1/2 but I used skim milk)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place carrots and onion on cookie sheet. Liberally cover with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast for 30 minutes or until charred.  Once cooked, scrape vegetables into a soup stock pot.  Cover with stock, add bay leaves and ginger and cook for 30 more minutes.  Discard bay leaves.  Use a blender to puree the soup.  Taste the soup, then season with the Tabasco, orange zest, soy sauce and spices to your liking.  Add milk.  Continue to adjust spices to your liking.  Serve the soup hot.