Root vegetable soup with barley

Ah December. What a busy, overindulgent month! This is a recipe to soothe troubled tummies, as it is pleasant, yet also bland and comforting, being filling without being rich. It does take quite some effort to prepare the veg though, as they are woody, hard things, so make sure you have a good knife. It actually has a texture more akin to stew, so feel free to add some dumplings if you wish.


Root vegetable Soup with Barley

Serves 4

Takes about an hour to actually cook, but preparing the veg can easily take an extra 15 minutes


2 medium carrots

1 medium parsnip

1 leek, trimmed to leave mostly the white

1 small onion

1 small swede

100g dried pearl barley or other grain mix if you choose

1.2L of good vegetable stock

2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced (or 2 decent tsps of minced)

2 tsp dried herbs of your choice of - savory, thyme or rosemary

A splash of seasoning sauce, such as mushroom ketchup (the bottle just seen on the left in the picture)


* Scrub or peel the carrots or parsnips, peel the swede, peel the onion. Chop all the vegeables into neat little chunks around 1.5cm-2cm, except for the leek and onion which need to be sliced thinly.

* Heat some oil in a large pan, then fry the leek, onion, garlic and herbs for 5 minutes or until softened, but not coloured.

* Chuck in the rest of the vegetables and cook until slightly softened, around 10 minutes.

* Add the stock and the barley, bring to the boil, then simmer for around 40 minutes.

* After the time has passed, check to see that everything is tender. Mash the soup roughly with a potato masher and serve. Add the seasoning sauce into the individual bowls to taste.

Serve with a good bit of white bread.

Parsnips - Dutch style

I’m not a huge fan of parsnips. I never was. But done like this, slathered in cheese and butter, they become just about bearable! This was taken from a recipe from a Dutch cookery book but I messed around with it because it was far too fiddly and I’m not into lots of swapping dishes and preparations stages. I’ll give the recipe the way I did it, then give the way you’re ‘supposed’ to do it. I served these with vegetarian steaks (yes really – Quorn is great!)and onion rings, but I think they’re pretty versatile. Just make sure you serve them with something strong tasting.

Parsnips – Dutch style

Serves 4

I think variances in cooking time are quite forgiving. I cooked them for about 40 minutes.

800g parsnips chopped lengthways then into 1-2cm thick slices

2 tblsp flour

50g butter

200ml vegetable stock

200g strong, tangy cheese, like mature cheddar (you can use less, but I’m a cheese freak)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180C

*Prepare the stock and whisk a small amount of cold water with the flour so it doesn’t form lumps.

*As the oven is heating, melt the butter in a roasting dish/pan. Once melted, take the tin back out and shake the parsnips around in it until coated. Season with the salt and pepper.

*Pour over the flour and stock so that all pieces are evenly covered.

*Sprinkle over the cheese and again make sure everything is evenly mixed.

*Cook in the oven for however long you feel is necessary (I did 40 minutes, 30 minutes is probably also possible).

Notes: It really, really helps if you use a non-stick tin. The cheese will melt and burn (Just the way my mum likes it!) which will stick horribly if you don’t.

The real Dutch way – Preheat oven to 250C. Boil the parsnips with 2 tbsp of lemon juice and the flour paste over a high heat for 5 minutes. Then melt the butter in a casserole dish (I think a frying pan or saucepan is meant), add the stock (Only 100ml used now), salt and pepper and 1tsp ground nutmeg and braise for 5 minutes. Layer parsnips and the sauce with the cheese in a greased, ovenproof dish then bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

P.S. Oops! I forgot to take a picture. Hopefully I’ll remember tomorrow.