Soup Is Good Food!

Today I made a vegetable barley soup – yum! I sautéed an onion, some carrots, some celery, and a sweet potato. I added a mix of vegetable and chicken broths (I like Wolfgang Puck’s all natural broths – what’s your favorite?) and a little water, and about ¾ cup barley. I seasoned with white pepper, marjoram, and my favorite Herbes de Provence made by Victoria Gourmet, Inc. which I bought at – of all places – Marshalls (go figure!). Fifteen minutes before I called it done, I added some spinach too wilted for a salad (but who cares in a soup!) and some chard.

I am quite happy with the result! There is a sweetness to the broth – from the marjoram perhaps?? I’m very curious to see if it improves tomorrow after the flavors have time to marry.

I served my soup with my favorite corn bread recipe, which comes from Huntley Dent’s The Feast of Santa Fe. I love this corn bread – even though I modify it a bit (yellow instead of blue corn meal, oil instead of butter, milk instead of buttermilk, which I rarely have on hand), primarily because it contains no sugar! I prefer my cornbread savory rather than sweet.

All in all, a happy meal. Oh . . I drank an inexpensive little Sauvignon Blanc with my meal – a perfectly pleasant pairing.