More cold nights, more soup

I love soup. Especially on cold nights in the winter time. My last post was about soup - specifically beef barley with mushrooms. It was delish! This last weekend I made chicken barley soup with carrots, celery and spinach. This soup was absolutely delicious! This recipe is very easy to make and does not take long at all. This time there's not roasting - you just pop everything in a pot. Serve this with a rustic, crusty bread and you've got a great meal on a cold night! Mmmm....

Onions, celery and carrots first with olive oil. Then add chicken.

Add fresh thyme, stock and barley after about cooking chicken for 2 minutes.

After barley cooks, add spinach.

Stir in spinach and then serve. Delicious!

Soup on cold nights

On those cold, cold nights in winter, nothing warms you like a hearty soup. One of my favourites is beef barley with mushrooms. What I like to do though, is roast the beef, mushrooms and onions. The best recipe I've found is this one on Martha Stewart. Roasting really brings out the flavours in the mushrooms and beef and makes one great tasting soup!

Lay the ingredients in a single layer on the sheet and toss in coarse salt, fresh cracked pepper and extra virgin olive oil. This is by far the best beef barley soup I've ever tasted. This particular recipe uses shallots and makes the flavours more intense which is what I love. Serve with some rustic bread and - badda bing! You've got a hearty, tasty, stick to your ribs meal. You'll stay warm all night!

Ready to roast.

Use cremini mushrooms for more flavour.

Love this shot! Had to share.

Cooking. Use pearl barley - it cooks quicker.

Soooo good!