Spring has Sprung! Yes, people, here in Alberta these wonderful rain showers have marked the start of spring. It has been a real treat to see the brown and drab grasses of the prairies slowly transition into bright and wonderful greens, slowly creeping like a slow wave across the land.
Being that it's been so rainy and grey lately I've been feeling a bit cold inside, almost like I am raining inside as well, so I am totally feeling this warm and healthy soup I'm posting today. It's perfect to enjoy on a cold, grey and rainy, blustery day; and although the sky is a bright and wonderful periwinkle blue today, the forecast for the rest of the upcoming week calls for some pretty dark and heavy spring showers.
This Soup Recipe is full of healthy ingredients and is just simply wonderful.
1 - 1 1/2 lb beef in large cubes ( i used stewing beef already in large pieces) - you'll be cutting them into small bite size pieces about 1/2 inch in size later, remember this isn't a meat only dish; it's a full and busy soup so smaller pieces of meat about 1/2 an inch in size will look like alot more yield when it's all the pot and it really is alot of meat when you cut it in these smaller sizes.
(Use any amount of veggies you'd like, I had about 1 cup of each give or take in mine)
celery
carrots
sweet onion
6 cups veggie stalk
( i needed to add about 2-4 extra cups of water as i went along, if you have this amount of stalk use that. I made my veggie stalk before i made the soup. I used 1 sweet onion golden skin on, carrots, celery, asparagus, leek, pepper corns and 1 tsp coarse sea salt, if you have other veggies add them, veggie stalk is really versatile. I actually thought that with so much greenery in my stalk it was going to end up green! but it was a beautiful and deep golden color.)
3 red Swiss chard leaves cut (I have also used Tuscan (aka dinosaur) kale in place of the Swiss chard! simply add the kale in about 10 mins earlier.)
3/4 cup each green lentils and pearl barley. (See note below)
1 tsp asafotieda powder *optional* ( do not add more! it's a very potent spice!)
The following spices have no specific amount but if you aren't familiar with them then start with 1-2 tsp of each and slowly add more in 1/2 tsp increments until you reach a taste you like. Try using only 1 tsp sea salt.
cumin
coriander seeds toasted and ground
pepper
sea salt
ginger
garlic
cayenne
parsley- fresh (optional)
oregano (optional)
turmeric
1) Heat a bit of oil in your cooking pot and brown the beef. drain any excess oil/fat, remove to a plate and let cool while you wash the pot, you'll be reusing it. The cut your beef into 1/2 inch pieces. I know they will look really small but that's the point. once it's all cut up it will look like alot of meat and you'll have way more yummy pieces in your soup. add your veggie stock to your now clean pot, add the meat, i and boil over med-high heat for 30 minutes. set your timer for 30 mins. remember to skim all the fat and crud off your soup as it's boiling, that brown sludge isn't something we want in our dish. skim it off and toss it down the drain.
Meanwhile in a pan heat some oil or butter. add your asafoteida powder and any other spices and really quickly let them become fragrant, it should take no longer than 30 seconds. add your onion, carrot and celery and lightly saute until all the spices are mingled with the veggies and the veggies and softened just a bit.
2) once your timer goes off signalling your 30 mins is up. add the carrot, onion, celery mixture to the pot. add both your lentils and pearl barley. add some more water and cover, simmer over medium heat for 20 mins. add your chopped swiss chard leaves and let cook 10 more minutes.
once the lentils are nice a cooked through, they'll be a bit chewy. serve your soup with some nice warm bread to soak it all up with!
* just a side note. this makes alot of soup, enough for four people to have one bowl each. also if you have left overs the lentils and barley will absorb some of the water so if you plan on eating this in a day or two, or as leftovers, making your soup with extra liquid will help. Also this soup gets better over night for sure! My boyfriend added Sriracha sauce to his to make it spicy!
**Update** I realized after making this a couple times that 3/4c lentils & barley each will require you to add about 4-8 extra cups of broth/water. This makes a HUGE pot of soup, enough for a family. I recommend cutting the amount of lentils and barley down to 1/4-1/2 c each. Also If you are using store bought stock i don't recommend adding any salt; as well I would stick to no more than 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, unless you really like it spicy.
Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Comment, Subscribe, and Enjoy!
xoxo RainSmurf!
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