In the Soup

Two recipes that are great for clearing out the fridge are fried rice and soup. I suspect restaurants used take the same tack with the Soup de jour – whatever was left over from the day before goes into the pot. Nowadays I suspect they just pop open a can of something, but I could be wrong.

Sausage soup

2 pre-grilled spicy bratwurst diced
Barley
Lentils
Red Onion rough dice
Green Bell pepper rough dice
1 small can Portobello mushroom pieces
2 pints of canned chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbs water
1Tsp dried Oregano
1Tsp dried Parsley
Kosher Salt and hot red pepper flakes to taste
1 Tbs olive oil

You may have noticed I left out quantities in some of the ingredients. I used the hand full or this handful of that method, but roughly, the peppers and onions were about a third of a cup and the barley and lentils were a ¼ cup each, more-or-less.

Put a 3qt pot on low heat, add the olive oil, peppers, and onions; season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper flakes. Allow to sweat until onions are translucent, add mushrooms, sausage, barley and lentils, turn heat to medium high and stir to coat lentils and barley. When sausage starts to sizzle a bit, add chicken broth. Add the parsley and the oregano. Simmer soup, stirring occasionally until lentils and barley soften. Taste and adjust salt and peppers as necessary. Pour in cornstarch mixture and bring soup to a boil, stirring constantly until broth thickens. Cool and serve. This makes about 3-4 bowls of soup.