Lentil, Barley and Butternut Squash Soup

Written by Aunt Brenda

Butternut Squash

This recipe is an adaptation of a dish that I made from a German cookbook I no longer have access to. I have substituted Butternut Squash for the sausage that was called for in the original, and added in several other vegetables that I thought would be good together. The key here is the last step - saute-ing the onions with butter,

adding flour and vinegar, and stirring into the almost-ready soup. This is a good trick to thicken up any soup, and the vinegar adds just the right balance to the starchy-ness of the vegetables and legumes. This recipe also makes enough to have lots of leftovers or to share with a friend!

You will need:

1/4 cup olive oil
One butternut squash, (about 3 pounds), peeled, de-seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 leeks, washed well, and sliced into half-rings
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dry lentils
1 cup pearled barley

8 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup celery, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 - 2 onions, sliced into half-rings
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Heat olive oil in large kettle. Add in squash, leeks, lentils, and barley. Saute until lentils begin to brown.

Add in broth, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until barley is tender.

Add celery, carrots, and spices. Simmer for another 10 minutes, or until carrots are done.

Meanwhile, in separate skillet, saute onions in butter until almost translucent. Add in flour, stir and cook another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the cider vinegar.

Add this mixture into your bubbling vegetable mixture and simmer for another 5 minutes or so, or until soup is thick and smooth.

Serves 6 very hungry adults.

This soup is great paired up with Caramelized Onion Bread!

Aunt Brenda

Aunt Brenda

I am Brenda Shoop and I am Aunt Bytes' very own resident nurse. I hold a bachelors in nursing from The University of South Alabama. I worked in health care for 20 years before "abandoning the ship." I have experience in emergency, trauma, pediatrics, internal medicine, cardiology, and holistic care. I am striving to learn as much as I can about how to treat the body so it can heal itself, in the most natural ways possible.

I am connected to The Great Universal Energy Source in the most wonderful and magical way. I see miracles every single day because I have learned how to change my perspective on life in general. We are all connected to the Same Source, and as we become enlightened, we change the course of events around us to reflect our deeper commitment, whether that commitment is to Love, Peace, Mercy, Greed, Lust, or Selfishness.

What I'm trying to say is that whatever drama is going on around you in your life right now is just a symptom of something you still need to deal with. If you change your patterns, the patterns of those around you will change as well. Much in the same way that if the Earth were to shift position, it would affect all the satellites around it, as well as the moon.

So, don't be afraid to shift positions now and again. Just try a new one on for size and see how it fits. You can always change your mind later, you know.

My most recently published articles appear below. Look them over and leave a comment!

Brenda on Facebook

Hillbilly Housewife

  • Treat Your Feet – Fuzzy Wuzzy Wednesday
    Welcome back to another in my summer re-run series. I’m glad I can take the opportunity to bring forth a few of the posts I’ve enjoyed in the past. I know many of you are way too busy to scroll around and find posts for topics you may have missed but would very [...]
  • Clean Up Road Weary Car Interior – Tidy Tuesday
    Welcome back to another installment of my summer re-run series. I know how hard it is to find the time to look around a website to find the topics that interest you. That’s why I’m bringing some of the more timely topics to the forefront again. This post is pretty timely in my house [...]
  • No More Restaurant Food – Frugal Challenge
    Welcome again to another edition of my summer re-run series. I am bringing topics from the past back up to the forefront this summer so you don’t have to take time out of your busy schedule to sit at the computer and scroll around looking for topics you missed – or can’t recall where [...]
  • A Good Excuse To Take A Nap Today – Fuzzy Wuzzy Wednesday
    Welcome once again to my summer re-run series. Many of you have expressed your appreciation for my bringing these topics back up to the forefront so you don’t have to spend time scrolling around searching for the things you need to read. I appreciate your not wanting to spend time at the computer [...]
  • Don’t Forget Your Air Conditioner – Tidy Tuesday
    This is another in our summer re-run series.  I’m bringing up a few topics from past posts that not everyone got a chance to see the first time around.  Many of you have told me that they appreciate not having to scroll around searching for topics they’ve missed.  So, this seemed like a good time [...]
  • Fewer Trips To The Grocery Store – Frugal Challenge
    I started a little “summer re-run” series for our daily posts and have gotten some very positive response.  It seems not everyone has time to scroll around into the archives to find interesting challenges or topics. Yes, there are several items from the archives that should be brought forward again so you busy folks can have [...]

Our Faves

Cruise Through and Check Out Some of Our Featured Articles! And in order to "Just Say No" to spam, we are asking our commenters to be registered users. Thanks for understanding!

The Herb Companion

These are our featured articles of the week.

Search AuntGoogle

Members

Subscribe to Aunt Bytes Newsletter!

View our current newsletter and our archives










Activity

We have 7 guests online

From Our Gallery

PlanetWebsite Logo

Rocket Theme Logo