It’s football time in Tennessee and I’m gonna make this soup very soon, in honor of all things fall and football! It’s one of my favorite fall soups so it thought it was time to re-share it. If I were stranded on a deserted island where it was perpetually fall (PLEASE!!) and could only eat one thing for the rest of my days, it’d be this soup. This is the CROWN JEWEL of my recipe stash. I hold nothing back. I GAVE ALL for Tennessee!
When I found out a few months ago that there was gonna be a certain photo shoot at my house this fall (more on that later!), I fully embraced my slightly curvier self. I was so proud that I seemed to have kicked vanity to the curb.
“They’ll just have to take me as I am.” Those were my exact words to myself.
But don’t worry, I’m a parent so I’m quite accustomed to eating my words. As the shoot drew painfully near, the fire breathing dragon of my vanity reared its ugly head.
So I tried to find a way to get on crack called my dear friend who had recently lost 12 pounds and 20 inches using an awesome system of nutritional supplements and begged her to meet me with a starter kit. 15 days and a nagging viral illness later, I’m desperately missing soup and bread. And coffee. And diet coke. And especially chocolate chip cookies. And butter. OH, how I miss butter. It’ll be a few more days until I can eat this yummy soup, but I hope you’ll make it and eat it with lots of bread and butter in my honor. Don’t email me, telling me how good it is until this weekend. I’m sick and slightly irritable. I was doing pretty darn good until I got this wicked virus and as I continue to recover, I’m much too weak to hear about your buttered bread and good rich soup:) Especially since I’ll be eating meat and salad and protein shakes for a few more days.
Don’t worry, I’m gonna tell you all about my program and how it’s worked for me as soon as I finish the initial challenge. I’m VERY impressed with it so far. And as a {former} physician and lover of health and food and exercise, I’m always in the market for a good boost to the system. Especially one that’s doable. Nevertheless, I miss Paula Dean. I’m a lover, not a dieter. And I MAY have cheated a time or two. But I am losing some stubborn inches and practicing the ever difficult task of depriving myself, which I could stand to do much more often. I’m ‘in my forties’ now and apparently that means I’m either gonna have to run 10 miles a day or occasionally tell myself no. The ‘no’ seems a little more reasonable but reasonable has never been my strong suit. Blasted metabolism.
The best motivation ever? I took a before photo. Heavens. to. Betsy. I DO NOT recommend the before photo under any circumstances but especially not with a high quality DSLR camera. Get a 3 year old to take it with a fuzzy camera phone while doing the Hokey Pokey. Trust me on this one. Knowing my luck, I’ll die before I have a chance to incinerate the memory card. Deleting is not a powerful enough option, dear friends.
Now for the recipe which is a repost from a couple years ago.
2 T butter and 2 T. olive oil
1 onion
1 large carrot
3 stalks of celery
3 cloves of garlic
2 boxes of good chicken stock
1 can of pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix) the smaller sized can ~14 oz
3 c. cooked chicken or 3 c. diced potatoes for a vegetarian option (could also use frozen hash browns)
1/2 c barley
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
2-3 T honey
1-2 t. chipotles chopped very fine (it comes in a small can in the mexican section of the store and is packed in a heavy sauce)—it has a lot of heat so be cautious.
1 c. sour cream or greek yogurt
1/4 c. heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
To begin, saute the veggies in the oil and butter until carrots are almost tender. Always salt as you go along and then adjust the salt at the end. Don’t wait til the very end to add salt or your dish will lack a depth of flavor. Add garlic after the veggies have cooked about 5 minutes.
Then add chicken stock, pumpkin, chicken, barley and all the spices. Cook at medium to high heat for about 45 minutes to an hour or until barley is tender. Turn heat down to simmer. Add sour cream or yogurt and whisk so that no lumps remain and then add cream. Taste and reseason. I had to add more honey to balance the heat of the chipotles but DON’T leave out the chipotles. The smokey flavor makes the soup. It just wouldn’t be the same without them! Enjoy!
Find more yummy food on my recipes page and download my free soups ebook here!!
{Chipotle Pumpkin Barley Soup} with chicken
Ingredients
- 2 T butter and 2 T. olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 large carrot
- 3 stalks of celery
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 boxes of good chicken stock
- 1 can of pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie mix the smaller sized can ~14 oz
- 3 c. cooked chicken or 3 c. diced potatoes for a vegetarian option could also use frozen hash browns
- 1/2 c barley
- 1/2 t. cinnamon
- 1/4 t. ginger
- 1/4 t nutmeg
- 2-3 T honey
- 1-2 t. chipotles chopped very fine it comes in a small can in the mexican section of the store and is packed in a heavy sauce—it has a lot of heat so be cautious.
- 1 c. sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To begin, saute the veggies in the oil and butter until carrots are almost tender.
- Always salt as you go along and then adjust the salt at the end.
- Don’t wait til the very end to add salt or your dish will lack a depth of flavor.
- Add garlic after the veggies have cooked about 5 minutes.
- Then add chicken stock, pumpkin, chicken, barley and all the spices.
- Cook at medium to high heat for about 45 minutes to an hour or until barley is tender.
- Turn heat down to simmer. Add sour cream or yogurt and whisk so that no lumps remain and then add cream.
- Taste and reseason. I had to add more honey to balance the heat of the chipotles but DON’T leave out the chipotles. The smokey flavor makes the soup. It just wouldn’t be the same without them! Enjoy!
***
My new spiritual memoir All the Pretty Things was just released! You can find it here!
