Now that the winter season has swept into Sydney, I am starting to cook heartier, tummy warming meals. I find that a plentiful pot of bubbling soup has a remarkably restorative affect on everyone in the family, especially after a long day at work or school. 

The main part of this evening’s meal was a substantial, textured and tasty Vegetable and Barley Soup. I took a chicken carcass out of the freezer this morning to defrost, then used this to make a clear stock. Since I didn’t have time to flit about near the stove checking on my stock, I first browned the carcass in my cast iron Le Creuset pot with about a tablespoon of olive oil, a whole white onion cut in half and 6 whole cloves of garlic. I then poured in about 3 litres of cold water, 3 teaspoons of sea salt and a good grind of pepper, then placed the entire pot into the oven at 150 degrees for two hours. 

Meanwhile I finely diced up a combination of vegetables which would go into the completed stock later on. You can use whatever takes your fancy or happens to be in the fridge.  I used 3 sweet carrots, 3 sticks of celery, 2 parsnips and about 300 grams of stringless green beans. 

I also placed a heaped cup of barley in a bowl of warm water to soak. Doing this in advance reduces the total cooking time for this grain. Barley is a marvellous wholegrain, not only because it is healthy with a low glycemic index, but it also has a delicious savoury flavour and texture similar to brown rice. It does contain gluten however, so it is not suitable for people who have coeliac disease. 

When we arrived home from swimming this evening, I simply strained the chicken stock, discarded the carcass, added the vegetables and barley and brought the lot to the boil. As soon as it started to bubble furiously, I turned the heat down to low and simmered it for 20 minutes. 

Stringless green beans are my favourite vegetable, especially when they are young, crisp and sweet as this lot happened to be. I was munching on them raw as I prepared dinner because they were so irresistible! I used the remaining 700 grams (remember 300 grams went into the soup) to make a quick side dish – Warm Dressed Green Beans – which we ate with leftover Beef Goulash from last night. The beans were blanched in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, then drained and tossed through with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, black pepper and 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. 

So in the the time it took for my children to unpack bags, shower, snuggle into flannel pyjamas and fluffy socks, I was able to finish off the soup, warm up the leftover goulash, toss together the beans and have dinner on the table, ready to serve with crusty bread. Quality ingredients, reliable appliances and cooking utensils all combined with forward planning, certainly helps to make home cooking more manageable.