Keeping cosy with big soup !

Looking for something to warm you up, something nutritious, something inexpensive? You'll find it here this week. .

 

Keeping cosy This is the week of the BIG SOUP. Soup chock-a-block with vegetables. Soup with barley. Soup to fill you up and power you forward. Yep, winter soup. You may not need it today, but when that cold wind blows, dig out the soup pot, get chopping and make a big pot of it. Soup is restorative, warms you through to your bones and can be a one-bowl meal. I like to add barley. It reminds me of my mum. And I can never make a tiny pot of this soup – it’s soup to share. BIG SOUP If you’re unfamiliar with barley, read up on it here. Barley It adds protein – and inexpensive protein at that – and gives the soup body. Then there is the barley itself, chewy little nutty nuggets swirling through the soup. Glorious stuff! You don’t have to confine barley to the soup pot though. It makes a great salad with roasted vegetables – think fennel, carrot, pumpkin, beetroot, that sort of thing –dressed with a gutsy tangy dressing; check the recipe for Baked Vegetables with Sizzled Haloumi for an idea. I love the simple Barley Pilaf with Tomatoes featured this week. It has few ingredients but you can taste them all. A pilaf is similar to risotto, slowly absorbing broth as it cooks, though it’s easier to make because you don’t have to stir it. You can keep the end result quite sloppy, like a traditional risotto, and serve it in a pasta bowl, or serve it firmer if it is to be served on a plate to accompany meat or vegetables (remove lid from saucepan towards end of cooking to let the rice dry off). It’s delicious and nutritious and inexpensive (barley is way cheaper than risotto rice). The point here is that sometimes we convince ourselves that by spending more money on products we’ll get a better meal. Look to whole grains and staple vegetables and cook them from scratch to help the weekly food budget go further.  I don’t mean to harp on about barley (well, okay, I do) but have you heard of black barley? It’s hulled barley, barley with only the tough outer husk removed, leaving all the nutritive parts intact. Read about it here.  It’s a holiday weekend coming up, and I’ve got a few suggestions from the archives to keep you cooking. I simply love Chicken Curry with Tomatoes. It’s just the thing if you’ve got friends coming around. And Blueberry & Apple Brazil Nut Crumbles make a mighty fine end to a winter’s meal. Yes, you can use frozen blueberries in these little cuties. Looking for a substantial snack, good anytime after sport or a vigorous walk, or something for a light lunch with salad? Try Leek & Bacon Tartlets. There are heaps of recipes to chose from on Shared Kitchen now, and if you haven’t had a look for awhile, flick through to the Home page and click on Recently Posted. I keep recipes in there for several months so it is easy to see what has been added by scrolling through. And if you haven’t booked a get-away for this weekend, and feel like one, we still have some spaces on our Te Whau Lodge foodie weekend. Te Whau Lodge The sun is set to shine Sunday and Monday so it is bound to be a gorgeous weekend here on the island. FYI Waiheke Island is 2-3° warmer than Auckland, and drier, too. Cheerio! Julie