Barley Vegetable Stew

Celebrating the start of autumn with a nice hearty stew. This recipe is from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson. It's so easy to throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning and then I get to smell it cooking all day! I'm glad I was home to watch it because it didn't take 8 hours to cook like the recipe stated. 

A great, big slow cooker full of stew. This filled up my 4 quart size Crock Pot. Lots of yummy veggies, barley and Great Northern beans.

This is definitely a thick, hearty, homey stew. I like my food a little spicier so I added some Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce on top of mine. Perfect with some crusty Italian Herb garlic bread.

Time to make some more Italian Bread Herb Mix. This dried herb mix comes from Herb Mixtures & Spicy Blends. Last Christmas I quadrupled the recipe and packaged bottles up for gifts along with other herby items. 

Golden Veggie Bouillon Powder & White Bean Barley Soup

Another slow cooker day! 

From Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just For You by Kathy Hester

I'm still looking for recipes to use up all my assorted grains, etc. and this one calls for barley. The only ingredient I needed to buy was the mushrooms. I first made the bouillon powder which is a quick and easy way to substitute for vegan bouillon cubes. You use 2 Tbsp. of the seasoning mix for 1 cube.

Ingredients for the Golden Veggie Bouillon Powder. 

You just blend everything in the food processor and you're ready to go. I did notice a typo in the amount this yields: it makes 3/4 cup not 1/4 cup as is printed.

The soup recipe called for jalapeno powder, which I've never heard of, so I used my Cajun Spice blend instead. I also didn't add another 1/2 tsp. of thyme since the bouillon powder had plenty of thyme in it. The liquid smoke added after cooking really highlighted all the rich, hearty flavor of the beans, barley and mushrooms. 

White Bean Barley Soup with Faux Parmesan Garlic Bread

Barley Bliss Casserole

VegCookbookClub recipe from Chloe's Kitchen:

Hot and bubbly from the oven.

 

 

I love barley and this casserole has plenty of it. It's a great warm, homey, filling meal for a cool autumn evening; even though it still gets up into the triple digits here! You really need to use a pan that's larger than 9x13 or it will make a big mess. I used my large lasagna pan and it worked out fine. Just allow yourself at least 2 hours to make this before you want to eat because it takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to cook.