Barley and Lentil Soup (using Chicken Stock)
Now that Renee is one and a half years old, things are starting to get more manageable with the kids. When they're awake life is still crazy and hectic, but the main difference is both kids go to bed at 8pm and will usually sleep uninterrupted through the rest of the night.
Before the kids Vickie and I would take turns cooking after work and since Vickie is now in control of the household activities, I haven't actively cooked for almost 4 years. There are a few things that bother me about this...first, I no longer know where anything in the kitchen goes. Sometimes I unpack the dishwasher and just place the items in the drying rack. Secondly, I am not longer efficient nor can I multi task. It takes me forever to find what I need whether its a spice in the cupboard, or a bottle of sauce in the fridge. Also, I have no idea what is stocked in both fridges and freezers.
I've been following some food blogs and building up a list of recipes to try. Since I've started eating healthier, I have been eating salads and soups for lunch. Just last Friday I had a Barley Lentil soup that was very enjoyable. Because we had a roasted chicken for dinner that same night, I figured it would be a good opportunity to make a chicken broth as well as try out the Barley Lentil recipe I located on the blog http://www.EatingOutLoud.com that I subscribe to.
The chicken stock came out great after following instruction from the following video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdaCG8eKsW0. I didn't realize that chicken stock was made of 3 components, the carcass, the mirepoix, and the herbs to add flavor.
Here are the ingredients I used:
• Remainder of 7lb chicken carcass
• 2 Celery sticks
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Medium yellow onion
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 Garlic clove
• 5 Parsley stems
The stock was simmered for about 2.5 hours since I started it around 9:30pm. In order to cool it down to put it in to the fridge so I could go to bed, I poured it out in to a container floating in an ice bath. The stock tasted fine and turned out to measure exactly 10 cups, which is what was needed for the Barley Lentil soup recipe.
I followed the Barley Lentil recipe but had some adjustments to the ingredients:
• Chicken stock (instead of vegetable stock)
• No rutabaga (no idea what this is so didn't need it, but squash might be a good replacement)
• 1 Garlic clove (instead of 3 since Vickie is hyper sensitive to garlic)
• 2 Bay leaves (added one extra for more flavor)
• 3 Celery sticks since it was in the fridge
• 1 Can of drained diced tomatos
If I had a fresh tomato that would have been better as the canned tomato had a sweet taste when bitten in to. If I had put it in earlier in the simmering process that sweetness might have been extracted out, but it wasn't so my preference would be to use a fresh diced tomato next time.
This was the first time I've worked with both Lentil and Barley, both required just a quick rinse before dumping in to the soup, and both required only about 20-30 minutes of simmering to soften and fully cook. Of the 10 cups that the recipe made, I froze half without putting in the kale since the kale only takes 5 minutes to cook, and is best freshly cooked and crisp. The other half is in the fridge and will likely get taken care of during this coming week. It turns out we're in the middle of a hot few September days so was literally sweating while eating the soup, but overall I think it was well worth it and will probably be a regular recipe that follows our roasted chicken dinners.
Before the kids Vickie and I would take turns cooking after work and since Vickie is now in control of the household activities, I haven't actively cooked for almost 4 years. There are a few things that bother me about this...first, I no longer know where anything in the kitchen goes. Sometimes I unpack the dishwasher and just place the items in the drying rack. Secondly, I am not longer efficient nor can I multi task. It takes me forever to find what I need whether its a spice in the cupboard, or a bottle of sauce in the fridge. Also, I have no idea what is stocked in both fridges and freezers.
I've been following some food blogs and building up a list of recipes to try. Since I've started eating healthier, I have been eating salads and soups for lunch. Just last Friday I had a Barley Lentil soup that was very enjoyable. Because we had a roasted chicken for dinner that same night, I figured it would be a good opportunity to make a chicken broth as well as try out the Barley Lentil recipe I located on the blog http://www.EatingOutLoud.com that I subscribe to.
The chicken stock came out great after following instruction from the following video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdaCG8eKsW0. I didn't realize that chicken stock was made of 3 components, the carcass, the mirepoix, and the herbs to add flavor.
Here are the ingredients I used:
• Remainder of 7lb chicken carcass
• 2 Celery sticks
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Medium yellow onion
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 Garlic clove
• 5 Parsley stems
The stock was simmered for about 2.5 hours since I started it around 9:30pm. In order to cool it down to put it in to the fridge so I could go to bed, I poured it out in to a container floating in an ice bath. The stock tasted fine and turned out to measure exactly 10 cups, which is what was needed for the Barley Lentil soup recipe.
I followed the Barley Lentil recipe but had some adjustments to the ingredients:
• Chicken stock (instead of vegetable stock)
• No rutabaga (no idea what this is so didn't need it, but squash might be a good replacement)
• 1 Garlic clove (instead of 3 since Vickie is hyper sensitive to garlic)
• 2 Bay leaves (added one extra for more flavor)
• 3 Celery sticks since it was in the fridge
• 1 Can of drained diced tomatos
If I had a fresh tomato that would have been better as the canned tomato had a sweet taste when bitten in to. If I had put it in earlier in the simmering process that sweetness might have been extracted out, but it wasn't so my preference would be to use a fresh diced tomato next time.
This was the first time I've worked with both Lentil and Barley, both required just a quick rinse before dumping in to the soup, and both required only about 20-30 minutes of simmering to soften and fully cook. Of the 10 cups that the recipe made, I froze half without putting in the kale since the kale only takes 5 minutes to cook, and is best freshly cooked and crisp. The other half is in the fridge and will likely get taken care of during this coming week. It turns out we're in the middle of a hot few September days so was literally sweating while eating the soup, but overall I think it was well worth it and will probably be a regular recipe that follows our roasted chicken dinners.
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