I’ve always enjoyed soup. It is my idea of comfort food. There is something wonderful about the chemistry of making soup. You put all those healthy ingredients together and (sometimes) voila!
For the last few weeks my love affair with soup has taken on a new dimension. I’ve learned that soup is healing.
When I went to my doctor three weeks ago with a bad cough, she ordered an x-ray, looked at the results and rolled her eyes. “It’s been a bad winter,” she said. “You have pneumonia.”
What?
The part that came next was the worst. “You’ll have to stay home and rest.” I stuttered, “But…can I just walk my dog?”
A withering look later, she wrote me a prescription for antibiotics and an inhaler.
So, I have stayed home for the last three weeks. I have rested. And I have (except the part about not walking Juliet) abstained from exercise.
Fortunately, my doctor didn’t say anything about cooking, so I’ve done plenty of that. I’ve turned to old standbys like Egyptian lentil soup here and harissa soup here. On good days, I’ve experimented with new recipes. This barley and lentil soup with Swiss chard is one of the best new soup recipes I’ve tried. It’s delicious and it is healthy. (Chard is just short of kale in its healing powers…right?)
I’m feeling much better.
Like my doctor said, “It’s been a bad winter,” but I can see spring just around the corner.
Here is the recipe.
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The original recipe from which this recipe was adapted can be found here. The recipe originally ran in Bon Appetit Magazine in 2005.
Easy soup to make, and so good! ….I added my leftover celery also. It makes a lot so I’ll make a loaf of fresh bread and keep on eating it for a few days! Thank you for this good recipe Lorraine!
Thanks, Marion. I’m delighted that you enjoyed the soup. This one shines, I think, with the chewy textures given by the lentils and the barley.