tiny bags of grains

I noticed it's been over 10 months since I've posted anything. Well, please just know I've had good reason - this past year has been a doozy. I'm just gonna leave it at that because it's not that kind of blog here.

What I am going to write about is soup. I made an amazing soup yesterday. Now, I'm not gonna lie, soup might be my forte. I can whip together an insanely good soup from just about nothing at all. That's what I did last night.

Trying hard these days to not spend a lot on groceries, I've been trying to use everything I have before I buy more. Last night, I was rummaging through my cupboard and I found 3 tiny bags of left over grains and lentils from some other recipe. [this one actually.]

And so here's what happened: amazingness. I don't know where my knack for soup comes from - but I'll take it. I love soup.

here's the recipe:

8 cups of water
1/4 cup Bulgar wheat
1/4 cup pearled farro [barley would also work here]
1/4 cup lentils
3 small Thai chilies chopped [optional]
1/2 inch fresh ginger root peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp hungarian paprika
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 15oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1. Bring water to a boil
2. Add grains and all the seasonings, chilies and tomato paste
3. Simmer for a good 25-30 minutes.
4. Taste it. [perhaps add a couple of bouillon cubes if you like for extra flavor - I did]
5. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes more until the grains are cooked to your preference [nobody wants to chip a tooth on an undercooked lentil!]
6. Add garbanzo beans and cook until they're heated through.


Get some crusty bread and go to town!