Being the only vegetarian in a carnivorous household is not the easiest thing. But since I'm in charge of shopping & cooking, I'm the most important person in the house. Just kidding, everyone is equally important, actually the children even more so as I'm trying to make sure they are as healthy as can be in their developmental years. As you've seen over the past few months, a lot of meals are vegetarian and everyone's ok with that (mostly) but sometimes they really want their meat!
Tonight's dinner was one such occasion and I was more than willing to accommodate them considering it was so simple! I was making Brian's favorite Mushroom Barley soup. He wanted some meat, so I said, "Sure, but you have to cook it and slice it yourself." Well while I was preparing the crock pot for the soup, I thought, wow, I could easily prep the meat for them in another crockpot. So I did. And they were all exceedingly grateful to me. I even went so far as to cut it up for them. How nice am I? I know, I'm a giver.
In all its meaty glory.
My soup with crusty bread & butter.
Its not the most colorful, but it sure is good!
Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 carrots sliced
1 sweet onion
1 stalk celery
1 T. crushed garlic
6 cups of veggie broth
1 1/2 cups dried barley
1 oz. dried mushrooms
fresh button mushrooms, sliced
beef roast (optional)
dried thyme
S&P
any other seasonings you feel like, really
Instructions:
Put your dried mushrooms into a glass bowl & cover with very hot water. Let sit. In a skillet, saute the carrots, onion & celery just until soft-about 5 minutes. Transfer to your crockpot. Add veggie broth, barley, fresh mushrooms garlic & seasonings. Make sure dried mushrooms are softened & add to crock WITH the liquid. Cook on low for about 4 hours.
If you're cooking beef, make it separately in another crock pot or in dutch oven. To ensure tenderness, be sure to cook in a well seasoned liquid.
Serve with crusty buttered bead.
