The Recipe Room

One of the most underrated vegetables in modern cooking has got to be cabbage.  It’s got a lot of vitamin C, and even though it is quite filling, it is very low in calories. Even more importantly, it tastes absolutely wonderful, even if the smell while cooking can be a little off-putting to some people!  In any case, yesterday I found a head of green cabbage buried at the bottom of my refrigerator and decided to make this barley and cabbage soup recipe. (Also try this Danish red cabbage.)

The pearl barley adds a nice chewy touch to the soup and is also full of lots of essential amino acids and apparently even helps to regulate blood-sugar levels.  All in all, this is a very healthy soup, although I suppose the sour cream might take away from that a little bit, so you can omit it if you’re dieting or lactose intolerant.

What you’re going to need:

• 1 small head green cabbage
• 125g pearl barley
• 1 small leek, washed and finely diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, washed and finely diced
• 1tbs olive oil
• 65ml dry white wine or vermouth
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10g parsley
• 1 bunch fresh chives
• 65ml sour cream

 

What you have to do:

1. Cut the cabbage into quarters and cut out the core. Wash, dry and cut into thin strips. Set aside.
2. Rinse the barley well and then dry.  Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
4. Add the leek, carrot, and celery, and sauté for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender.
5. Add the barley and sauté for about 2 more minutes.
6. Add the wine and continue cooking until most of it has evaporated.
7. Stir in the cabbage.
8. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
9. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 60-75 minutes, or until the barley is tender.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Wash the chives and cut them up into fine rings.
12. Garnish the soup with a tablespoon of sour cream and sprinkle some of the chives and parsley on top.

Preparation Time:  10 minutes

Cooking Time: 90 minutes

Serves:  4

Difficulty: Easy

Tags: Cabbage and Barley Soup, carrot, celery, fresh chives, green cabbage, leek, olive oil, parsley, pearl barley, sour cream, vegetable stock, vegetarian, vermouth, white wine

This entry was posted on Monday, 30 April, 2012 at 12:02 pm by Serena Langley and is filed under Less than 90 mins, Main Courses, Meal for 4 people, Starters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.