GREEK BARLEY SOUP

1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley or unhulled barley
8 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt
½ cup fresh cilantro (optional)
salt
pepper (optional)

The barley needs to be soaked overnight. Then drained before cooking
time.

In a large pot on med heat, sauté the onions and garlic in oil until
tender, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, barley, cumin and turmeric. Bring
to a boil then reduce heat to med low. Simmer for abt 1 hr, or until the
barley is tender. The water shld be reduced to half, which is what you
want. About 4 or 5 cups of broth in the remaining product. Stir in
yogurt/sour cream, cilantro, chickpeas and salt to taste.

To make the broth, I simply pour in 8 cups of water and 2 cubes of good
quality broth cubes. I prefer mine to be organic. The result is a
cleaner, heartier broth. The sour cream or yogurt marries the turmeric
and cumin. What I like abt this soup is 1, its so healthy, 2 really
cheap, and 3, the flavor tastes like a stew that's been on the stove all
day.

To find barley, go to your local specialty store and ask for barley in
the bulk section. The pearl barley is hulled, which means the tougher,
more nutritious layer has been stripped off. Its also cheaper. But I
prefer the unhulled barley for it's added nutrition.


I apologize for the blurry pictures. I can't find my real camera right now, so these were taken with my sidekick. The picture below is what unhulled barley -somewhat- looks like.

Mango Lassi

A mango lassi is a refreshing and healthy version of "milkshake". The original recipe calls for sugar, canned mango which probably has more sugar, yogurt AND milk!! Your body does not benefit from this at all except for excess calories, sugar, and a rise in abnormal craving for more sugar. My version is lighter, healthier, and somewhat cheaper. Although later in the future I will be sure to add a few cardamom seeds as the original recipe calls for.


1 cup yogurt
1 large mango
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup agave
10 sprigs of mint or more or less, to your taste.







































VERDICT!

My baby loved it! He took a few good gulps of the lassi and was full. I wondered if the lassi could do without the water, but I liked it too. I will be sure to add an extra mango, extra mint, and a few cardamom seeds.

Chocolate-Orange sandwiches

I recently made chocolate-orange sandwiches. They came out pretty nice. Though the chocolate sauce was too thick than I would have liked, and a little too bitter. What had happened was, as I made my chocolate sauce, I thought it looked too watery so I added more cocoa. That basically messed it up cuz the cocoa will thicken up if you are patient and give it a minute.

I also did not think about the presentation as usual cuz I am a hasty, hasty girl. As I blog more though,. I hope that will change and I will be more patient with my cooking.

One thing I have learned thus far- a clean kitchen means easy cooking.

What I need to learn- pateince makes GOOD FOOD. Well, not really, but experience does!

for the chocolate sauce-
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tbs agave or more to sweeten

Make sauce. Give it a minute to thicken, like I should have!

Slice 1 large orange in medium slices. Not thin or thick slices, but medium.

Spoon sauce on wax paper, then orange slices on top. Refrigerate for an hour. You can use any kind of fruit you have on hand! The coconut oil is really healthy and is what makes the cocoa hard.





THIS IS BEFORE IT WAS REFRIGERATED.


THE FINISHING PRODUCT!!