Bëëf and barley soup
The umlauts should emphasize that it has nothing to do with real beef. I've had several requests to share this one, so I'm posting it in hopes that everyone that asked finds it.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 celery ribs, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- Roughly 1 tsp dried thyme - use more if you like
- 2tbl dark soy sauce
- 1/4 cp dark red wine
- 12oz seitan, chopped
- 2/3 cp pearl barley
- 4 cups vegetable broth + 1.5 cups water
- 1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped
- fresh black pepper to taste
Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oilive oil on medium in the bottom of a stockpot. Toss in onion, herbs (except the bay leaf), celery, and garlic and saute until the onions are more or less clear. Add seitan and toss around until it's a bit brown on the edges, then douse with red wine and soy sauce. Cover and cook for a few minutes (5?), tossing the ingredients around occasionally. Add broth, barley, bay leaf and bring to a boil, the drop heat to as low as it will go and still simmer and leave simmering for at least an hour. 5-10 minutes before serving, add the spinach and stir in. I actually found canned seitan in the Chinese grocery, and it was great in this.