Just in Case...

Just in case you don't know what you're making for today's BIG GAME, I made this soup for Ryan and myself last night and it was delicious. If we're back in time (we've got a little day trip planned to Sangolqui), we'll definitely be eating it while watching the game. I served it last night with some left over homemade pita topped with butter, garlic and parmesan cheese toasted in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes! It was really great! Perfect for a cold day and football!

The recipe is adapted from CookingLight's Fresh Food Fast. This cookbook cracks me up because most of the recipes don't use fresh food. The use a ton of frozen food and a ton of jarred things! But oh well, I made everything fresh and it took about an hour all together (longer depending on what kind of barley you buy).

Here it is:
1 lb of seasoned ground beef* or sausage
1 chopped red pepper
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion
2 cups water
5 stewed tomatoes**
1-2 cups of cooked barley
1 cup chopped spinach

*They don't really sell sausage here in Ecuador. So I just take the ground beef, add a bunch of spices to it and some oil and then cook it up. Essentially the same thing as sausage.
**Homemade stewed tomatoes are super easy. Boil a small pot of water. While water is boiling cut an X in the bottom of each tomato. When water is boiling place the tomatoes in the pot for about 10 seconds. Remove, run under cold water and then remove the skins and quarter. Dump out the water, return the tomatoes to the pot and simmer for 20 minutes with 2 teaspoons of salt and any other seasonings you might like.

Alright directions -
Cook the beef.
In a food processor combine peppers, onion and water. Puree until smoothish.
Combine beef, pureed mixture, tomatoes and barley in a pot.
Bring to a boil.
Season to taste.
Add the spinach. (If you're making cheesy toast, put it in the oven now!)
Serve when spinach is wilted. (and toast is crispy!)

Super easy, pretty quick and REALLY REALLY hearty, deliciousness.

LET'S GO BEARS! And Happy Birthday to Cousin Lou!

MULUB,
Taylor