Vegetable Barley Soup

I know it's still a little hot outside for soup recipes, but this was too good to pass up.  I'm one of those irrational people that can have soup any time of year - especially when it's chock full of vegetables like this!



The flavor is definitely different, with all of the different herbs involved - but it's definitely a "good" kind of different!

Ingredients:
Adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe

 

4 cups water
2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped 

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

5 cups kale, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup chopped fresh fennel fronds
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
juice from 1 lemon

feta cheese crumbles, optional

Bring 4 cups water, 2 cups vegetable broth, barley, and 1 teaspoon sea salt to boil in large pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until barley is tender, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, chopped carrot, and mushrooms to pan.  Sprinkle with sea salt, and sauté until golden brown, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Add onion mixture and remaining 2 cups chicken stock to pot with barley.

Add kale to soup. Simmer until greens are tender, about 15 minutes. Add dill, fennel fronds, and mint; simmer 5 minutes. Add lemon juice. Season soup with sea salt, pepper, thinning with more broth, if desired. Divide soup among bowls. Sprinkle feta cheese over, drizzle with oil, and serve.

 

I even ate this cold for lunch today - and I NEVER eat soup cold.  Now you know it's gotta be good!

Do you guys eat soup in the summer time?  Or am I just a weirdo?

Roasted Shrimp, Tomato, & Feta Pasta

Looks like a big pile of whatever here, but trust me... this was delicious!

Can I just take this first second to say how awesome you guys are?  Yeah.  You guys!  That come here, day in and day out.  Reading my blog.  Leaving me comments.  You. Guys. Are. AWESOME.

With that being said, I think I'm on absolute Cloud 9 right now.  Why?  Well, yesterday... I had a record-breaking day on the blog, pertaining to unique visits.  The old record was 600 visits in 1 day.  Now, 600 is a hell of a lot.  But yesterday... that was completely shattered!  I had over 1000 visits!  Way awesome in my book.  Yes, I know, a lot of you have that many visits in the matter of half a day on a regular basis... but I'll take my little achievements as they come!  So when that next mile-stone of breaking 1500 visits comes... you guys will be the first to know!

Okay, now to the good stuff.

This was a pretty darn delicious meal.  Packed with some of my favorite ingredients.  Shrimp.  Tomatoes.  Feta.  And to make it a complete meal, I boiled some quick egg noodles and called it a perfect pasta dish!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Ina Garten's "How Easy Is That?"

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery ribs, chopped
pinch of fennel seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup madeira wine
14 oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon Pernod
salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveiled - tails left on
5 oz. feta cheese crumbles
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1 lemon
 dried egg noodles

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a large, oven-proof skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil under medium high heat.  Add celery and fennel seeds.  Saute for about 6-8 minutes, or until celery is starting to soften. 

Add garlic and cook for about a minute.

Stir in madeira wine and bring to a boil.  Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the liquid is half reduced.

Add diced tomatoes with their liquid, tomato paste, oregano, Pernod (this is a licorice-flavored alcohol that really brings out the "seafood" flavor in the shrimp!), salt, and pepper.  Simmer mixture for about 15 minutes.

Add shrimp to pan in an even layer, over the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle feta atop the shrimp.

In a small bowl, combine both bread crumbs, lemon zest, parsley, and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Scatter bread crumb mixture over shrimp.

Place skillet in oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until shrimp are pink.  Squeeze lemon juice atop shrimp before serving.

About 5 minutes before shrimp are done, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Add egg noodles (I love the kind from the Asian market because they cook in practically a minute!) and cook according to package directions.

Place a serving size amount of the egg noodles on each plate and top with tomato-shrimp mixture.

 This was definitely a delicious dinner.  Ina just serves the shrimp by itself with some crusty bread, but I thought the pasta really made it a solid dinner!  Give this a go if you're looking for something relatively quick for the weekday!  Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday guys!