Split Pea & Barley Soup

I love this soup. I didn't have barley the first time and made it with wild rice. It was great but I love it more with barley. It's from allrecipes.com but I am adding my modifications. I just throw the garlic, onion and bay in at the same time as the water and I've changed the recipe below to have the carrots and other veggies go in 90 minutes before it's done. not 60. Doubles very easily.

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 bay leaf
* 3 cloves garlic, minced (or garlic powder, to taste)
* 2 cups dried split peas
* 1/2 cup barley
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 8 cups water
* 3 carrots, chopped
* 3 stalks celery, chopped
* 3 potatoes, diced (left them out once, used turnips once, LOVED the latter)
* 1/2 cup chopped parsley (I forgot this the second time)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, saute the oil, onion, bay leaf and garlic for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add the peas, barley, salt and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, parsley, basil, thyme and ground black pepper. Simmer for another 1.5 hours, or until the peas and vegetables are tender.

Curried Cauliflower

You can use frozen or fresh cauliflower for this recipe.

20 oz. frozen cauliflower florets or 1 small head cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt
oil

Steam the cauliflower until its just getting tender. Move it to a saute pan or wok, with a bit of your preferred oil - mine are canola or olive oil. Liberally sprinkle with salt, then the spices. Add more spice if you like. Saute and stir about five minutes until every floret is coated with curry and done to your liking.

Spicy Butternut Ginger Soup

Another Love Soup recipe, but this one is Ben's favorite. He requests it all the time now that it's fall.

2.5 lbs. butternut squash
2 yellow onions (450 g)
yellow or red potatoes (225 g. or 8 oz.)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
3 cups vegetable broth
3 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
1/3 cup (20 g) chopped cilantro (we skip this)
2 tsp. rice vinegar (essential)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice, plus more to taste
1-2 Tbsp. honey or agave nectar

Preheat oven to 400.

Peel and seed squash. Chop into 2-inch cubes. Peel onions and cut into large pieces. Scrub potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Toss vegetables with the olive oil and a teaspoon of salt and spread them on baking sheets or casserole dishes. Roast veggies for 30 minutes, stir them and turn them over, lower heat to 375, and roast for another 30 minutes.

Put roasted veggies into soup pot with 2 cups water and the veg broth, fresh ginger, cilantro (if using), and rice vinegar. Simmer together for 30 minutes, then puree soup using immersion blender or in a blender. Bring soup back to a simmer and season with lemon juice and honey/agave. Adjust seasonings as needed - tasting is important here.

Enjoy!

Barley-Tahini Casserole

This recipe is vegan, but Bridget was sure it had cheese in it because the tahini sauce is so creamy. We all really liked this and we'll definitely be making it again. It's from Alicia Silverstone's cookbook The Kind Diet.

serves 6 to 8

2 cups hulled or pearled barley
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 jumbo (or two medium) onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, grated or finely diced
2 celery stalks, diced
5 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 cup Tahini dressing (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350. Bring 3 cups water to boil in a large saucepan and add barley. Cook for about 40 minutes or so, until tender (check it). Drain off any remaining water and set cooked barley aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over med./high heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add a little more oil or a bit of water to the pan if the onion starts to stick. Measure out about 1/4 cup of the cooked onion and garlic and reserve it for the tahini dressing. To the remaining onion and garlic in the skillet, add carrots, celery, soy sauce, salt, basil, oregano, and garlic powder and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until vegetables are tender. Add barley to skillet, and stir over med. heat for a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Transfer half of barley mixture to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and drizzle half of tahini dressing over it. Add a second layer of barley mix and then the remainder of the dressing. Bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 35 minutes.

Tahini dressing:

1/4 cup reserved, sauteed onion & garlic
1/2 cup tahini
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of paprika
1/8 tsp. dried basil
pinch of dried oregano

Combine onion, garlic, tahini, spices and 1/2 cup water in food processor or blender. Blend for 1 minutes or until creamy.

Split Pea Soup - Vegan

The kids read a book that features split pea soup and have been asking me to make it, but I used to feel sick to my stomach when my mother would make this soup with the ham bone in it. That bone and meat boiling away just smelled so bad! So I found this ham-free version in Love Soup. We tried and it was better each night. It made a ton of soup. I can't believe I liked this soup, but I would make it again.

1 lb. dried green split peas
3 stalks celery chopped (200g)
3-4 medium carrots, chopped (225 g)
1 large yellow onion, chopped (300 g)
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme OR 1 tsp. dried thyme
hot paprika (I used crushed red pepper and regular paprika)
1 - 1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used 1 Tbsp. dried parsley)
2 -3 cups vegetable broth
ground black pepper

Combine the rinsed split peas in a large soup pot with 8 cups water and the chopped celery, onion and carrots, the bay leaf, thyme, and pinch of paprika. Bring to boil and cook briskly for 20 minutes. Lower heat, add 1 tsp. salt, parsley, and vegetable broth, and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes. The peas should be completely soft.

Remove bay leaf. Taste and add salt if needed. Grind in black pepper. Add more veg broth or water if it's too thick, then puree in blender or with immersion blender.

This soup will thicken up as it cools and then becomes more liquid when it's reheated. But each time it's reheated it will lose water through evaporation, so reheat it with the lid on. Enjoy!

Cabbage Soup

From the cookbook, Love Soup, with minor variations:

green cabbage, 1 lb.
olive oil
onion, 8 oz.
1 1/2 cups sliced leeks, white part, about 5 oz.
2 medium carrots, 4 oz.
2 medium stalks celery, 4 oz.
1 medium russet potato, 8 oz.
5 - 6 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. dried dill (or 2-3 Tbsp. fresh)
salt & pepper as needed

Preheat oven to 375. Cut cabbage in wedges, remove core, and slice wedges crosswise. Toss with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. salt and spread on baking sheet(s). Roast cabbage for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

Chop onion medium fine. While cabbage roasts, saute onion and leeks with 2 Tbsp. olive oil on medium heat until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely dice carrots, celery and potato. Combine these veggies with broth in a big pot and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Then add the cabbage, leeks, and onions to the pot and simmer, covered, for another 20 minutes. Stir in dill and season with salt and pepper. (Optional at this point: stir in 1 cup whole milk. We skipped this.)

Everyone loved this. We had this with fresh sourdough bread and it was very filling and delicious.

It's hard to find a cabbage that is as small as 1 lb., so I roasted a 3 lb. one and we had roasted cabbage as a side dish the first night and we had the soup the second and third nights.

Vegetarian Reuben

Ben perfected this hot sandwich tonight. I'll write this intro, then have him write his original recipe. The kids loved these so much. Jonathan said Daddy should stop being a teacher and open a restaurant called SuperGrill. Bridget said it should be called SuperMaker. Then we asked them if they would like to have it again soon. Jonathan asked how many days were in September. Ben said "30" to which Jonathan replied: "Then I'd like to have it 90 times in September."

Ben's Vegetarian Reuben Recipe:

rye bread with caraway seeds, sliced
1/2 lb. sauerkraut, rinsed
swiss cheese, sliced
Russian dressing
Smart Balance (or butter)

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat the griddle on medium heat

2. Rinse the sauerkraut in a strainer to reduce the saltiness.

3. Dump the sauerkraut onto the hot griddle and heat it until most of the water evaporates.

4. While the sauerkraut is heating butter 4 slices of rye bread on one side.

5. Remove the sauerkraut from the griddle and place it next to the stove in a bowl.

6. Place all 4 slices of rye bread butter-side down.

7. Lay one slice of Swiss cheese on each slice of bread (if the slices are large break them in half and put a half on each slice).

8. When the cheese begins to melt, place a layer of sauerkraut (around 1/3 of an inch thick) onto just TWO of the slices.

9. Pour Russian dressing on top of the sauerkraut.

10. Check the two slices of bread that only have cheese on them. If they are golden brown, flip them on top of the the sauerkraut and dressing, closing the sandwich.

11. Remove from griddle and serve.

I usually do this twice, two rounds of grilling to create 4 sandwiches. Feel free to use more cheese or less sauerkraut if that suits you better. I put less sauerkraut on the kids' sandwiches to make them thinner which makes it easier for them to take bites.