Hippie Soup

Stallone is confused.

Last weekend we went to a Halloween party. We didn't rock any costumes, but the ladies did acquire some amazing mustashes.

The day after, I felt like pooh. Not sad, but in physical pain. It was a good night.

With the exception of going to the farmers' market this morning, and relocating to my bed for a late morning nap, I hadn't left the couch. But I needed to make lunch for the week and be semi-productive, so I made soup & then I ate some and thenI felt MUCH better.

I love the farmers' markets, have I mentioned that before? ;) Especially this time of year, you still have berries and some stone fruits left over from summer, but there's squash and root veggies and leafy greens all over the place. And it's all so cheap! Last Sunday's haul, for instance, was comprised of zucchini, acorn and butternut squash, kale and swiss chard, parsley, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic and black eyed peas. And all told it was less than $15! Warms. My. Soul.

Normally, I don't buy beans at the farmers market, but I was walking around picking up these ingredients and suddenly had a hankering for this spicy soup my aunt used to make - a kale and black-eyed pea soup. And it didn't seem like a soup I could substitute in some other kind of legume for the kale, but LO AND BEHOLD! The lady selling the sweet potatoes also had a smallish cardboard box full of black eyed peas! It was a sign!

So it's what I made, with some alterations. Warms my belly and soul.

Barley, Kale and Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 8 cups veggie broth
• 2 cups black eyed peas
• 1/2 cup barley
• 4 stalks kale
• turmeric, cayenne, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, pepper

I sauteed off the onion & garlic in olive oil first. Then added my broth and threw in the peas and barley to bring to a boil. I chopped up the kale and let it bubble for a while. I tasted it and thought it needed a kick, the red pepper flakes didn't add as much flavor as I wanted so I added a pinch of cayenne and a healthy shake of paprika. I was also compelled to add turmeric, and I'm so glad I did. Salt, pepper and BAM. Donezo. 

Soup-er Food

I know it sounds like hippie food and wayyy too healthy... but honestly, it is delicious. A quick, conservative, cost estimation would be the whole soup cost $3.00, there's probably 8 servings? So maybe $0.45 a serving? For lunch. A day. And it's been deeeelicious!

Such a rough life. 

I know I don't need to apologize for posting pictures of Sammy-cat all the time, but I worry its becoming excessive... oh well, this is too precious to pass up.