Vegetable Barley Soup

Baby, it's cold outside...!

It's that time of the year again with snow on the ground and chills in our bones.  Quite often, I feel too lazy too bundle up and go out, but let's be honest, I just use that excuse to supplement my perpetual laziness! However, I do spend a lot of that time in the kitchen whipping up something warm and hearty so it all kind of works out!

Soup makes for a very tasty and satisfying meal. I could eat soup seven days a week and not complain. I do have a problem using canned soup since they are usually quite high in sodium. But the good thing is - soups are very easy to make at home. You can get quite creative with them and usually whip up something simple just using whatever is in the pantry. It is a great way to load up on lots of veggies and makes for a very healthy, hearty meal.

I have been looking for something different to cook with and hit upon this goldmine: Barley, which looks suspiciously like Urad Dal!

It takes a little while to cook but becomes soft and chewy. The cooking water retains a lot of the earthy flavour which I usually just use a stock for my soup

This particular soup is very hearty with this beautiful barley and lots of veggies. I used red onions, carrots, peas, corn, jalapenos and tomatoes. Yeah, that many.

You can go ahead and add peppers, zucchini and mushrooms as well if you have them in hand. Put everything together with some spices, boil and done! Easy does it!

Ingredients :
1/4 cup uncooked barley
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 small tomato
a small bunch of cilantro
1 cup mixed vegetables
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam masala/ curry powder
3 cups water
olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

This recipe serves 1

1. Boil 2 cups of water with some salt. Add barley and cook for about 45 minutes. Stir frequently as barley tends to burn easily. Taste and make sure it is soft and slightly chewy. Drain and set aside to cool. Do not throw the cooking water as you can use it as stock.
2. While the barley is cooking, heat some olive oil in a sauce pan and fry the onions till they are translucent. Add the chopped garlic and fry for a few seconds.
3. Add the tomato and cook till it is mushy and then add the rest of your veggies. Fry this for about a minute. 
4. Add 1 cup of water with salt, chili powder and curry powder. Bring the water to boil and simmer covered until the vegetables are cooked, for about 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Once they veggies are done, add in the barley. Add a small amount stock water, adjusted to your preferred consistency. Let this simmer for another 10 minutes for the flavours to combine.
6. Top with a pinch of crushed black pepper and garnish with chopped cilantro.

The Best Vegetarian Chili

I have never been a meat-eater.

By meat, I mean seafood and poultry as well .This is of course by virtue of being raised in a Tam-Brahm family. But that reasoning only holds good for a few years, if we are all being truly honest. At some point, every young vegetarian comes to a crossroad in their life where they consciously or sub-consciously decide to go or not go to the dark side :D To paraphrase the Bard himself, "To eat, or not to eat: that is the question". Or something like that.

For me, I have had several such opportunities when I was in college but something held me back. I cant explain or put a finger on it but I sub-consciously made that decision in my teens and it has stuck so far. For a lot of people, it is more straightforward than that, more of a conscious decision. If you ask Arvind, he insists that he will violently throw up of he eats meat. And he says this right in front of other meat eaters, which I find terribly rude but, hey, that's my dear husband for you!

I never questioned my decision to go meatless for the most part but there were a few times when I just wondered 'what if...'! The first was when I was working in good old Chennai. A colleague and good friend of mine used to bring mushroom masala to work. I never had really eaten mushrooms before so this was all new to me. Man, I just went nuts over it. The juicy, supple texture of the mushroom... that delicious chewyness, the spicy masala... I was in foodie heaven. My colleague was convinced that I would just love poultry and really tried to talk me into it! It makes me laugh to just think about it. Good times!

Anyway, here I am trying to make a hardcore non-vegetarian dish into a meatless meal. I believe Chili is traditionally made up of ground beef and sometimes ground turkey, the only veggies being onions and garlic. But if you ask me, you cant go wrong with beans and a whole bunch of veggies for some some real good flavour!

Look at that! Isn't that just gorgeous! Mmmmm veggies =P~

The Best Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked kidney beans
1 onion - chopped
4 pods of garlic - finely chopped
1 tomato - chopped
2 jalapeno - seeded and chopped
1 carrot - peeled and chopped
1/2 zucchini - peeled and chopped
1 cup mixed peppers (red, green, orange and yellow) - seeded and chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels - thawed out
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup water or vegetable broth
A bit of Mexican blend shredded cheese
salt to taste
crushed black pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

This recipe serves 2

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Add the chopped tomato, jalapeno, carrot, zucchini, corn and mixed peppers. Add some salt to the veggies. Saute until slightly cooked, for about 5-7 minutes. 
2. While the veggies are cooking, mix the black beans and kidney beans in a large bowl. Add a little water to them and mash them slightly with a potato masher. This helps the chili get a nice ooey-gooey texture which I love.
3. Once the veggies are cooked, throw in the slightly mashed beans. Add the cumin powder, coriander powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, crushed black pepper and mix well. Adjust the seasoning as needed. Add in the water or vegetable and simmer for about 15 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Adjust the water/broth as well depending your preferred consistency. 
4. Remove the lid and give this a taste. Adjust the salt  and other seasoning as needed. Simmer for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve hot with shredded cheese and a side of corn bread. Enjoy the BEST vegetarian chili :)

Summer Corn Soup

I know this says 'Summer' soup but really soup is a great idea in any weather. I love a hearty veggie-loaded soup or chili in the winter or fall and a light,easy, brothy soup in the warmer months. It almost always is a one-pot meal. It is easy to make and doesn't make me feel bad about not having a food processor!!

It always bothers me when I watch these shows on The Food Network where fancy chefs whip out all sorts of food gadgets leaving me supremely annoyed at having what appears to be an inadequate kitchen. But I have to admit that pushes me to recreate dishes with what I have in hand, including ingredients, and this is yet to go wrong. Every time they use food processors to make sauces or pesto, I woefully glance at my trusty Preethi Blue Leaf and tell myself that it makes no difference. Preethi Blue Leaf can boldly go where any food processor has been and kick it. Yes, the lid of the bigger jar might be a tad too big. You might get the very hot chutney all over you when you try to pry it open. The smaller jar might ooze chutney juice all over itself and your hands when grinding. Gross. The juicer might be an utter disaster. But darn it, it can blend. I have used my trusty (and crusty, sadly) Preethi Blue Leaf to make everything from salad dressing to pesto to onion chutney and I am proud it. If only I could figure out how to make it not-so-oozy-juicy!

Anyway, back to where we were. Soup makes me happy. There is something about eat-drinking a bowl of hearty home made soup that makes me at peace with the world. Specially if it doesn't require a 'slow cooker' and takes me all of 15 minutes to make it!

Summer Corn Soup

Ingredients: 
1 cup frozen corn kernel -  thawed
1/2 red onion - chopped
2 pods garlic - chopped
1 juicy tomato - chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp chopped basil
1 1/2 tbsp EVOO
1 cup water or vegetable broth
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

This recipe serves 1

1. Heat 1 tbsp EVOO in a pan. Saute the onions and garlic till transparent, about 5 minutes. Add in the thawed corn, salt, pepper, oregano and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the water or broth and simmer for about 2 minutes.
2. Transfer the onion-corn-broth/water mixture to a blender and blend  until it is relatively smooth. This is usually good when the soup is chunky with a bit of corn to chew. Set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 1/2 tbsp EVOO in a pan and add the chopped tomato. Saute for about 5 minutes till the tomato cooks. Add the basil and saute till basil wilts. 
4. Pour the blended mixture into this and stir until well combined. Adjust the salt and pepper as needed.

Serve hot, topped with crushed tortilla chips and enjoy!

Roasted Pepper and Corn Soup

Back home in Chennai, rainy days would give me a total craving for Chilli Bajji and a cup of hot coffee. Specially the chilli bajjis from Elliots Beach. Mmmm what could be better... How I bitterly miss my dear motherland!

Anyway, the absence of Elliots beach has forced me to look elsewhere for rainy-day-comfort food. So these days, my favorite thing to eat on a gloomy cold rainy evening is - Soup! I recently discovered this delicious soup recipe but it didn't really make a fan out of me until I modified the recipe to suit my palette. You can still try and make it the original way - I have included a link to it at the end of my recipe.

Oh and i learnt how to broil peppers in this recipe! Yay! Look at these beautiful broiled lovelies:

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange, but not green)
1/2 cup Frozen Corn
4 tablespoons olive oil
I medium yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped basil leaves
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 cups water or Vegetable/Chicken stock
Salt and Pepper as needed
1/2 cup Croutons

This recipe serves 2

1. Broil the 2 peppers in a broiler or a gas stovetop. If you are using a stovetop just hold the peppers one at a time over the open flame till the skin starts to char and turn black. Keep rotating the pepper until its covered with the black soot. Place the charred peppers in a large bowl, cover it and let it cool until the peppers are OK to handle. Then remove blackened skin using your fingers, stem, and seeds by cutting into quarters.
2. Add olive oil to a large pot or pan. Once the oil is hot, sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Then add in the corn and sauté for a while until the corn is cooked. Add 2 cups of water/stock, as desired. I use water because i don't like the taste of stock and I am more than happy to kiss the sodium goodbye! Add the peeled red/orange/yellow pepper, basil leaves. crushed red pepper flakes, fresh ground black pepper and salt.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. If the mixture looks too dry, add another splash of water, but not too much, otherwise your soup will become very runny and not thick.
4. Turn off the heat and allow to cool just a bit. Pour the mixture into a blender and blend until smooth and thick. Top with a ground black pepper, a few croutons and enjoy!

Shout out to the original recipe, with many thanks :  Click Here