Ah, it’s time for an actual post with some actual merit. I do believe that today’s dodgy rambling will be about preparing a delicious vegetable soup. A vegetarian vegetable bean and barley soup, to be precise. With the weather getting colder, this is a terrific and easy to make meal that will warm you up quite well, not to mention is insanely tasty and nutritious. No, really. Insanely. Because you’d be crazy to not enjoy this. This recipe has great sources of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.

So let’s gather up the needed materials to cast this spell of deliciousness:

Pictured here we have:

• 3 carrots
• 1 potato
• 1 turnip
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 can mixed vegetables (I didn’t like to use this. I typically have fresh celery and green beens to add, but sadly I was all out. Wanting more green in the soup, I resorted to canned veggies.)
• 1 can chick peas
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 can vegetable broth (I usually use 2, but I only had one in stock. Get it? Stock? Sheesh. Tough crowd…)
• Quick barely (Of which we will use 1 cup)
• 1 garlic (Of which we will use 3 cloves)
• Olive oil

Not pictured because I forgot to put them in the shot: Salt, herbs and spices which we will discuss more later. (The spice must flow!)

I don’t add onions and peppers to my soup because I’m sadly alergic to them. You can most certainly add those to the recipe or any other vegetables you’d like. It’s a great opportunity to throw in any other vegetables you like or have around. You can’t really have too many vegetables in this soup. So the first thing you want to do is clean, peel, and cut up the raw vegetables. Get to the choppah! Try to get small to meduim sized pieces. Too small and they won’t be noticable or will fall apart. Too large and they won’t cook properly or dominate the soup. Nobody wants to go for a spoon of veggie soup and just have one giant, tough chunk of turnip.

These were actually a bit too large of pieces. I must have gotten impatient. Do not let the lure of the soup make you rush your chopping.

Next prepare the garlic. Separate out three cloves. You can use more or less depending on your liking. 3 is a pretty average amount once all the soup is put together. I’ll probably go with 5 next time. I loves the little garlics. I loves them good. To prepare the cloves for soup, first separate the cloves as best as you can and remove the skin. Then place the flat side of a knife over the clove and hit the top of the knife with the side of your hand. This will break open the inner layer so you can get to the core of the clove. Mince the garlic up as finely as you can. I may not be one to mince words, but I most certainly am one to mince garlic.

Put the minced garlic in the pot with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the garlic over medium-high heat for a minute or two to help bring out the flavor before adding in the rest of the raw vegetables, except for the tomatoes. Sauté the vegetables and garlic for 6-8 minutes or so. You want to cook them, but not too much. They’ll be cooked more in the soup and you want them to still have some firmness to them when the soup is completed. Be sure to keep an eye on the vegetables as they sauté. You don’t want them to brown or burn. After the raw vegetables had cooked, I added in the canned and let them cook for a about a minute.

Once the veggies are all sautéed, add in the vegetable broth. Also add in 2 more cans of water (or 3 if you only have one can of broth). Add the beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste (for flavor and thickening) as well. Still all of this while simmering on medium heat. I like to use chick peas and black beans because I like the differences in texture, I like the flavors, and I like their nutritional stats. You can use any kinds of beans in this soup that you’d like from northern to kidney. If you’re not much of a fan of beans, you can also just use one can of beans or no beans at all but you’ll be missing out on the extra protein and fiber they offer.

When those are all simmering together, we’ll put in the barley. Barley is an excellent source of fiber and adds in a nice slightly chewy texture to the vegetables and beans. Pour the barley into the simmering pot. Stir everything together a bit, and at this point, your interaction with the soup is mostly done.

The only phase left is to add in your preferred herbs/spices. The ones I used were:

• 1 1/2 tsp Chili powder (I can use this. It’s the fresh peppers that are my bitter mortal enemy.)
• 1/2 tsp Basil
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/4 tsp Rosemary
• 1 tbsp Parsley
• 1 tsp Cilantro

As always with herbs/spices, the fresher the better. You can use prepackaged spices if need be, but you will really get a much better flavor if you buy fresh herbs and spices and grind/chop them up before you add them to the soup. As with much of this recipe, you can change these amounts to suit your need. What’s listed is a pretty average soup, but feel free to experiment with adding more/less of the listed ingredients to find what works for you. Just remember that it’s easier to add more than to take some out. You’ll also want to add some salt at this point. I like to use a few teaspoons of sea salt, but I hesitate to give a required amount of salt since this part is possibly one of the most palate specific ingredients and could always be added when the soup is served.

The soup will need to simmer for about 45 minutes on medium low heat.

Now you’re no doubt hungry from smelling all the cooking soup, so make yourself a bowl of Cinnamon Life.

Ingredients:

• Some Cinnamon Life
• Some Milk

Pour the cereal into a bowl. Then pour some milk over the cereal. It’s important that the cereal go in first or it will float on top of the milk. Delicious.

Hopefully this has held you over for the soup to continue simmering and hopefully you’ve continued to stir it a bit while it simmered. Once it’s cooked for 45 minutes, it’s ready to be serverd. I tend to like to let it set for a few minutes to help cool down and allow the flavors to settle, but it’s up to how impatient you are. Ladel out the deliciousness into the vessel of your chosing and enjoy! The soup is often even better the next day once the barley has had time to soak up even more broth and turn the soup into more of a stew.

To warn you in advance, this makes a lot of soup. If you are a sullen shut-in like myself, you will be eating soup for days with this recipe. It stays quite well for a while in the fridge, and you can freeze some if you need longer term storage. It’s certainly better for you than canned soup, and tastes much better too. This soup is also great for helping you feel better if the cold of the winter starts to get to you. But next time you’re at the store, stock up on some fresh vegetables and give this recipe a shot. It’s simple to make and great to eat!