Hearty Barley Stew
Wait, first off, I have an important announcement…
I finally purchased a DSLR camera!
After much deliberation, I went with the Canon Rebel T2i. (Uh, if anyone wants to help me figure out how it works? That’d be cool.) So I’ll be spending lots of hours in the future trying to figure out how it works 🙂
Anyways, there was a winter storm warning here in Richmond, and I didn’t need to see snow flakes to decide it was the perfect excuse to spend the day in the kitchen.
I whipped up a huge pot of what was initially going to be a vegetable soup, but it turned into more like an italian stew. This recipe had a mind of its own. Thankfully, it turned out well.
Hearty Barley Stew
Makes about 6 cups- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce (or just more diced tomatoes)
- 1 cup uncooked, pearled barley
- 1 tbsp italian seasoning
- black pepper to taste
- 1 cup fresh spinach
Start by sauteing the carrots and onion in the olive oil, over medium heat until soft. Add cumin and stir. Pour in your diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, marinara sauce and barley. Turn to high, and bring to a boil. Stir in the rest of the seasonings, and continue to cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the barley is cooked. Just before serving, stir in the spinach so it’s just barely wilted.
I didn’t do the exact “analysis” on this, but each serving is about 200 calories, and that’s for a pretty big serving. (Over a cup.) The barley is super filling, and you’re getting lots of veggie-packed goodness in each serving!
Forgive the photography… I don’t know my settings on my camera yet 😉
Funny story about my camera — We bought it from Best Buy last summer. I spent two hours in the store trying to figure out which camera was the PERFECT camera for us. I tried every single one and liked the one I bought the best. I tried getting Mr. A to try it about 234932423 times, but he refused because he trusted my judgment. Now, every time we shoot, he bitches about the camera because he said it doesn’t work well. He just doesn’t know how to use it. Because he didn’t try it in the store. Like a dumbass.
… Men.
Was that story even relevant to your post?
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Twitter: @GlamKitten88
Absolutely relevant 😉 Poor Mr. A. At least he’s still willing to brave the elements for photoshoots! haha
Hi Liz,
Congrats on the new baby! The camera, I mean, haha! I only use pocket camera, so I know nothing about photography, but I do admire those who do and can capture the moments in such pretty frames and pics.
Well, yes, I ‘stole’ a lot from my Mom’s closet. I think in the past they made clothes with higher quality. And the funny thing, Liz, my Mom is almost 5 inches shorter than me! ^__^
Visit me:
LeeAnne, Style N Season
http://stylenseason.blogspot.com
So excited for your new camera, unfortunately I have no advice. I am hoping to take a class at my local Rec. Center as I learn better from real people and not at all from tutorials on the internet.
And I am the same way with soup. I just add in whatever I have and looks good, it always turns out well. It’s hard to mess up soup.
that pic actually looks really good to me! 🙂 love the recipe!
The DSLR will change your life!!! My tip would be to keep it on manual. If you put it on auto, there is really no point in the DSLR. I would suggest google for a full run down! But you need to learn ISO and aperture. Lower ISO when it’s bright out, higher when it’s super dark to lighten the photo. When you look in the camera hole and press the button lightly you will see a little timeline like thing and I always try to get the line in the middle. IT’s really hard to explain lol so I have no idea if I’m making any sense to you. But definitely check out the edible perspective!
That actually DOES make sense!!! And I’ve got so many of Edible Perspectives pages bookmarked!!! 🙂
Ahh congrats! Dream come true. Still just a dream for me, though, so I can’t offer much/any advice 🙂
Yay for your new camera, it’s always exciting to get a new gadget! Enjoy 🙂
woot on the camera 🙂
Congrats on the new camera!! How exciting! It’s so much fun to mess around with all the settings 🙂 I have a feeling some very tasty photos will be appearing quite soon on this bloggy heehee
DSLRs are so fun and confusing. I recommend reading Ashley (edible perspective)’s photography posts one by one, really getting comfortable with whatever skill she’s talking about, and then moving on to the next post. It’s taken me a while, but I might be getting the hang of it.
And you’re now reminded me that I need more barley in my life. Thanks, lady.