Green Barley Soup with Roasted Root Veggies

This simple barley soup is nourishing and filling—it leaves me feeling warm inside. Barley is known for boosting milk production in breastfeeding mothers, but it’s good for you in so many more ways. Together with the root veggies and greens, this is a stay-healthy-and-strong meal for all.

Ingredients

2 cups barley

3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

8 cups water

bouillon (I used 1 cube Edward & Sons Garden Veggie, 1 Not-Chick’n and two tbs mushroom seasoning)

1 tbs pepper

4 cups root veggies (carrots, turnips, radish and/or beets) thinly sliced (to about a 1/4 inch)

salt

pepper

olive oil

1 box tofu (optional for a protein boost), in 1/2 inch slices. Try it sprinkled with garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

1 or 2 bunches of greens, sliced (try turnip greens and/or spinach)

3 cups water (or enough to cover the immersion blender blades)

microgreens (we have pea shoots this week!)

lemon or lime

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a pot, add barley, garlic, bouillon, 1 tbs pepper and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil then simmer over medium heat for about an hour until barley is cooked. Hulled barley may take 20 minutes or so longer to cook than pearl barley. If you presoak your barley overnight, or at least a few hours, it will cook in 40 minutes or so.

3. On a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper for easy clean-up), spread a layer of root veggies (I used carrots for first layer). Salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with olive oil. Then add second layer (I used radish and turnips this time, but beets also make a delicious addition to this combination). Salt, pepper and drizzle again. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until they are tender and a bit crispy.

If you’re adding the tofu to this meal, spread it on a second baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with oil. Try roasted sesame oil for extra flavor. Bake along with the root veggies.

4. In another pot, add three cups water and the sliced greens. Cover and cook over medium heat until just wilted. Then blend using an immersion blender, if you’ve got it. Otherwise, you can let cool a bit, then transfer into a regular blender. Add the blended greens to the barley pot.

5. Serve a bowl of green barley soup and top with roasted veggies and fresh microgreens and a dash of lemon or lime.

Sinigang-Inspired Tamarind Soup

This recipe was adapted from here.

Right up front, I want to tell you that I’m not of Filipino descent, nor have I had the pleasure of tasting an authentic bowl of Sinigang (which is Tagalog for “stewed [dish]”). However, I’ve heard of this dish for years and have yearned to try it. Being vegetarian, I haven’t found a Filipino restaurant that offers veggie options. If you have, PLEASE let me know where it’s at! In the meantime, I want to thank Vicki for reminding me that this soup exists and encouraging me to try to make it myself. Being Mexican, I am always excited about any food with tamarind in it! And I can’t seem to get enough caldo (stew), no matter the weather or time of day. So, here’s my attempt at making a pot of vegetarian Sinigang using in-season veggies from this week’s Fresh Five CSA.

INGREDIENTS:

2 small onions, chopped

8 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbs oil (palm, or olive)

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms (these, I get from our local vietnamese market)

12 cups water

28oz can of tomato sauce or 4 fresh tomatoes, finely chopped

2 or 3 tbs tamarind paste (more if you love sour; I use Aunt Patty’s Tamarind Paste, which I can usually find at Sprouts. I love it because I don’t have to spend a bunch of time picking seeds out)

3 cups turnips or radish, chopped

3 cups carrots, chopped

1 bunch of turnip greens and/or spinach, finely chopped (2 to 3 cups)

1 or 2 boxes tofu (depending on whether you want this soup as a side dish or the main course)

1 tbs salt

1 tbs pepper

miso paste

microgreens (This week, we have kale, kohlrabi and arugula. The more spicy ones are great for soup toppings, too—Try last week’s cress!)

Instructions:

1. Saute onions in oil (I used palm oil) until translucent and slightly browned

2. Add garlic and shiitake and saute for another minute

3. In a pot, add water, tamarind paste, tomato, chopped root veggies, greens, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are cooked.

4. Serve hot and mix in a spoonful of miso paste to each bowl. Top with a handful of microgreens.

Citrus Roasted Root Veggies with Spicy Radish Microgreens

This sweet tang of these crispy root veggies is irresistible to our discriminating little ones. And, it packs in the vitamin C, which we all need in plentiful quantities to fight the bugs going around this season—beyond the orange, both turnips and radish microgreens contain high amounts of vitamin C. In fact, ounce-per-ounce, radish microgreens contain almost double the amount of vitamin C of an average orange. Let us know if this recipe pleases your crowd!

Ingredients:

6 cups root veggies, chopped into roughly 1-inch cubes (turnips and carrots are what we have this week. You can also include beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips…the list goes on!)

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs honey

zest of 1 orange (zest it before chopping it to squeeze the juice, and save the zest for the end)

juice of 1/4 orange

2 tsp tarragon

1 tsp rosemary

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (more or less to taste)

1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

juice of (another) 1/4 orange

radish microgreens

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450

4. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, honey, 1/4 orange juice, herbs and spices.

5. Add the root veggies to the large bowl and toss to coat.

6. Spread on baking sheet (lined with parchment paper for easy clean-up)

7. Bake for 35 minutes or until they look crispy on the outside and cooked through so they are soft in the middle.

8. Remove from oven and top with radish microgreens, orange zest and a splash of orange juice.

Another quick recipe—check out this Carrot and Turnip Mash perfect for babies and adults alike.