Tonight I relapsed to my recipe following ways. I followed a recipe exactly.
I CAN EXPLAIN. I'm rationalizing my culinary slip in the following ways:
1. Some recipes are way too delicious to attempt straying.
2. Following recipes will teach me the essentials of cooking on my own.
3. It's Monday and I'm too lazy to get creative in the kitchen.
Now that the excuses are off of my shoulders, join me for some Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup. Seriously, you will LOVE this soup. Trust me. Unless you don't like soup, like my Gamer (crazy, I know...not sure how I managed to marry a man with such apathy toward a whole genre of comfort food).
This recipe hails from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Ultimate Soup Cookbook by Reader's Digest. This thing is a mammoth trove of mouthwatering soups, stews, and chowders. I mean, look at this bad boy...
Aside from it's amazing flavors, I love this Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup recipe because it's healthy, easy peasy lemon squeezy to make, can be adapted to a crock pot, and it can all be made in one pot!
To begin, you will need olive oil (I use extra virgin), garlic, an onion, cans of whole-kernel corn, black beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and chopped green chiles, medium pearl barley, chicken broth, chili powder, ground cumin, and cooked chicken. Boo, listed ingredients are boring. Let's use a visual!
Throw some olive oil in your pot or dutch oven and place it over medium heat.
Totally unnecessary side note...The Gamer gave me a gorgeous red cast iron dutch oven for Christmas last year. I think romantic, swooning thoughts about him and smile a little every time I use it. It makes the food taste better. :)
Chippity chop up your onion and throw that sucker in the pot, pausing a moment to admire the satisfying sizzle. The recipe calls for one clove of garlic but, seriously, who only puts one clove of garlic in soup? I went ahead and squished a whole head of garlic through my garlic press and tossed that in with the onion.
Saute for about 3-5 minutes or until it smells OH-MAZING and looks like this.
Now you're ready for the best part. Brace yourself, this is requires advanced culinary skill. Dump in your cans of corn, beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and chiles. Very advanced. Also, add the chili powder, cumin, barley, and chicken broth. The recipe says to add water but I typically use chicken stock instead of water because water is B-O-R-I-N-G.
Bring it all to a boil.
Reduce the heat, throw the cover on and let it simmer away happily for about 45 minutes. Toss in your chicken and let it go for another 15 minutes with the lid on. The chicken should be warmed through and the barley should be soft and fluffy.
TA-DA!!
Salt as needed, I find that this soup needs very little salt, even when using a reduced sodium chicken stock.
I should note that I'm not a huge fan of spicy foods and I love this soup so no worries if you're eyeing those chopped green chiles with fear. If you like spicy, I'm sure you could amp up the heat with some Cayenne or something (I told you I'm not very good at this straying from the recipe thing).
If anyone makes this soup with some creative touches (I'm talking to you lucky, lucky culinary naturals) I'd love to know what you did.
Here's the exact recipe for the rest of you that are like me and need measurements:
Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup
Adapted from The Ultimate Soup Cookbook by Reader's Digest
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, minced
1 (15 1/4 oz) can whole-kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
About 5-6 cups of chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup medium pearl barley
1 (4-6oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped or cubed
Heat oil in pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 3-5 minutes or until golden yellow and tender.
Add all other ingredients EXCEPT FOR THE CHICKEN. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add in chicken and cook, covered, another 15 minutes.
I CAN EXPLAIN. I'm rationalizing my culinary slip in the following ways:
1. Some recipes are way too delicious to attempt straying.
2. Following recipes will teach me the essentials of cooking on my own.
3. It's Monday and I'm too lazy to get creative in the kitchen.
Now that the excuses are off of my shoulders, join me for some Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup. Seriously, you will LOVE this soup. Trust me. Unless you don't like soup, like my Gamer (crazy, I know...not sure how I managed to marry a man with such apathy toward a whole genre of comfort food).
This recipe hails from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Ultimate Soup Cookbook by Reader's Digest. This thing is a mammoth trove of mouthwatering soups, stews, and chowders. I mean, look at this bad boy...
Aside from it's amazing flavors, I love this Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup recipe because it's healthy, easy peasy lemon squeezy to make, can be adapted to a crock pot, and it can all be made in one pot!
To begin, you will need olive oil (I use extra virgin), garlic, an onion, cans of whole-kernel corn, black beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and chopped green chiles, medium pearl barley, chicken broth, chili powder, ground cumin, and cooked chicken. Boo, listed ingredients are boring. Let's use a visual!
Throw some olive oil in your pot or dutch oven and place it over medium heat.
Totally unnecessary side note...The Gamer gave me a gorgeous red cast iron dutch oven for Christmas last year. I think romantic, swooning thoughts about him and smile a little every time I use it. It makes the food taste better. :)
Chippity chop up your onion and throw that sucker in the pot, pausing a moment to admire the satisfying sizzle. The recipe calls for one clove of garlic but, seriously, who only puts one clove of garlic in soup? I went ahead and squished a whole head of garlic through my garlic press and tossed that in with the onion.
Saute for about 3-5 minutes or until it smells OH-MAZING and looks like this.
Now you're ready for the best part. Brace yourself, this is requires advanced culinary skill. Dump in your cans of corn, beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and chiles. Very advanced. Also, add the chili powder, cumin, barley, and chicken broth. The recipe says to add water but I typically use chicken stock instead of water because water is B-O-R-I-N-G.
Bring it all to a boil.
Reduce the heat, throw the cover on and let it simmer away happily for about 45 minutes. Toss in your chicken and let it go for another 15 minutes with the lid on. The chicken should be warmed through and the barley should be soft and fluffy.
TA-DA!!
Salt as needed, I find that this soup needs very little salt, even when using a reduced sodium chicken stock.
I should note that I'm not a huge fan of spicy foods and I love this soup so no worries if you're eyeing those chopped green chiles with fear. If you like spicy, I'm sure you could amp up the heat with some Cayenne or something (I told you I'm not very good at this straying from the recipe thing).
If anyone makes this soup with some creative touches (I'm talking to you lucky, lucky culinary naturals) I'd love to know what you did.
Here's the exact recipe for the rest of you that are like me and need measurements:
Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup
Adapted from The Ultimate Soup Cookbook by Reader's Digest
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, minced
1 (15 1/4 oz) can whole-kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
About 5-6 cups of chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup medium pearl barley
1 (4-6oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped or cubed
Heat oil in pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 3-5 minutes or until golden yellow and tender.
Add all other ingredients EXCEPT FOR THE CHICKEN. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add in chicken and cook, covered, another 15 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment