It’s Friday once again! Where does the time go? I was concerned that this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe would fall inappropriately on a warm Spring day, but luckily (for the soup, anyway) our weather cooled off quite a bit this week.
We made a simple soup called Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India. The “taste of Little India” comes from the spices: ginger, turmeric, and garam masala. The rest of the ingredients are very basic: onion, carrots, parsnips, garlic, barley, and chicken broth. After Trevor (of Sis Boom Blog!) mentioned on Facebook that he wished he had added chicken, I decided that chicken was something we needed. I simmered two small boneless, skinless chicken breasts with the rest of the soup and chopped them up when they were cooked.
We enjoyed this hearty, yet light, soup. I was happy with my choice to add the chicken. Next time I would use a little less ginger; I felt the flavor was a bit too strong. I was looking forward to seeing if the flavors mellowed a bit after an overnight rest in the fridge, but unfortunately I accidentally left the pot of soup out on the stove overnight. Quite frustrating, as I hate to waste that much food!
This would be a great recipe to use when you need to “clean out the fridge”. Many vegetables and meats would work well with the barley and spices.
I will be out of town next week visiting my family in Seattle for Spring Break, so I won’t be making next week’s recipe, and I might not be able to comment on other soup posts. However I did make a catch-up recipe this week that I will be sharing with you next Friday!
From Scratch 
Your soup looks delicious and adding chicken seems the way to go.
Have a great weekend.
Good choice on adding the chicken – Kathy also did the same and someone else lamented not adding meat.I really enjoyed this.
Thanks for the shoutout! I just saw the other Karen’s soup also with chicken and I told her this soup must scream for it or something. Didn’t you love the color of the broth?
Great idea! Chicken with or in this soup is delish! I had both!
I’m laughing I had been hoping for warmer weather, but not on the day I made the soup… yes, chicken was the right call.
The chicken was a smart addition!! Too bad you are going this weekend to Seattle, we just got back on Sunday! LOL!! 🙂
Have a great weekend!
I also added chicken…it just gave it a bit more substance! Your soup looks and sounds delicious! Enjoy Seattle!
The bowls with chicken, like yours, look better to me than the ones (like mine) without. Glad you liked this. Hope you have a great trip next week. Looking forward to seeing your catchup post.
Yes, we will add chicken next time as well. Great idea! Happy travels!
Yes – chicken!!!!
have a great trip
That’s a pretty bowl of soup and I think the addition of chicken worked for many of us. I simply doubled the barley (love barley) and that made a rather substantial soup. Because I doubled the grain, I needed more flavoring and spice, not less, and my soup needed more heat, more spices. The opposite of your problem!
Your soup looks beautiful – chicken sounds like a great addition, though we enjoyed the protein boost of the quinoa we used. So frustrating that you had to throw it out, though! I’ve done that before and it’s very disappointing.
Maybe Bill would have eaten this had I added chicken. Good move. Enjoy your time with your family!