Getting Fresh

What's your definition of fresh?

Is it a juicy piece of fruit, straight from the grocery aisle? Organic and vaccuum-packed so as not to allow any germs to attack?  A submarine sandwich, made with ingredients that have been trucked half way across the continent, which were treated with chemicals to keep them from going bad and genetically modified not to rot as quickly? Maybe the veggies are crunchy, but I am not sure that they would fit everyone's definition of fresh-- or at least not the connotations of health they are trying to create!

Is fresh more of a personal concept to you? Something you've harvested yourself? Perhaps some milk straight from the cow, or a strawberry straight from the vine? Maybe somebody getting a little too liberal with their efforts to spark your romantic interest?

I tend to think of any of my veggies that have not been frozen, processed, or preserved in any way as "fresh." And I'm pretty proud to say I am still eating fresh, home-grown veggies from my garden. That's right-- and you thought the growing/ bragging season was well over!

Well, to be honest, it is (as much as it ever is... I've still got sprouts going year round and kombucha brewing in the den, and someday I want to have greens in every window, all winter long! But I digress). But the fact that we are still in the depths of winter doesn't stop me from enjoying 3 month old winter squash and parsnips that are still kickin'! You may remember these fellas as the subject of another post from a few months ago. Well, this is my last squash. And save for a little soft spot near the top, he's still as fresh to me! The parsnips are still quite crisp, and very sweet. So I went hunting and found a yummy recipe that incorporates these two vegetables plus some of the barley I've had kicking around for a while in a delicious soup. Don't be fooled by its rather mundane appearance-- this soup is f%*ing delicious.

Root and Barley Soup

Usually I get carried away and tweak most recipes quite a bit, to suit my tastes. But this time, I was fairly faithful to the version of the recipe that appears in Ripe from Around Here by jae steele (check out her killer blog!). I actually went to the work of going to the store and buying produce, something I haven't done often this winter. The only thing I changed was that I did not use miso paste, but instead added a little extra of the other salty ingredients-- salt (duh!) and soya sauce. I did intend to buy some miso but decided that someone who is about to reduce their income by 3/4 probably shouldn't be spending $9 on a single ingredient for a single recipe. However, if you can afford it, I would think that miso could only improve this recipe! Plus it's really good for you.

This is a basic soup recipe, which means it's fairly idiot-proof, but it's great for this time of year because most of the ingredients are winter-friendly (and those that aren't can be retrieved from the freezer or purchased frozen from a relatively local source, i.e. not purchased "fresh" and trucked up from California).

Here's what you need [these are my tweaks]:

3/4 cup pearl barley [pot barley]
7 cups vegetable stock [water & chicken boullion]
2 cups of peeled celery root [too pricy! omitted]
1 1/2 cups peeled & cubed winter squash
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp barley or rice miso [omitted, substituted extra  soy sauce, boullion]
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cups of diced parsnip (you could also use carrots)
3 1/2 cups of sliced or chopped mushrooms
1 cup green beans
2 tsp fresh marjoram [1 tsp dried]
2 tsp fresh thyme [1 tsp dried]
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley [omitted- didn't miss it!]
1 tbsp tamari soy sauce [or to taste]
black pepper




First, cook the barley in water for about 15 minutes, then add cubed squash and celery root (if using). Cook until squash is fairly soft, adding water as needed (I didn't really follow the 7 cups of liquid part of the recipe... sorta just went with it, giving the soup what it needed!).

If you're using the miso, mix it into a 1/4 cup of stock and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and start to fry those onions. I don't know about you, but I find this to be one of the most pleasant scents known to humankind. Add thyme to that mixture, and you've got heaven on your hands. Oh, what a coincidence! Thyme is one of the upcoming ingredients!







Once the onions are soft, add the parsnips and cook for a few minutes. Then add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more. Then add the beans and the spices.









Then-- you guessed it!-- cook for a few more minutes after that.

Once the veggies seem cooked through, add this mixture to the squash/ barley pot. Add the miso, as much water as you need, and then you'll probably want to season with a little extra stock/ soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Also, as with most recipes, this is a good time to say to yourself, "hmm... what does this need?" Then, follow your instincts. If your instincts say, enjoy, well.... Enjoy!