Cooking from the Garden

What to do with Swiss chard growing in the Garden? I found this recipe calling for swiss chard and decided to try it. It was very good and the boys even enjoyed it. We had this soup for dinner with homemade crackers ( I found the cracker recipe in the Herbfarm cookbook.)

BARLEY AND LENTIL SOUP WITH SWISS CHARD from epicurious

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled carrots
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
10 cups (or more) low-salt chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup pearl barley
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2/3 cup dried lentils

4 cups (packed) coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 1/2 large bunch)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Heat oil in heavy large nonreactive pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots; sauté until onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Mix in cumin; stir 30 seconds. Add 10 cups broth and barley; bring to boil. Reduce heat; partially cover and simmer 25 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with juice and lentils; cover and simmer until barley and lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add chard to soup; cover and simmer until chard is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in dill. Season soup with salt and pepper. Thin with more broth, if desired.

Makes 10 first-course or 6 main-course servings.

Bon Appétit
Cooking for Health
February 2005

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

Herbed Olive Oil Crackers

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup rye flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
5 T olive oil
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup cold water plus more if needed
1/4 cup thinly slivered fresh sage leaves
1/2 tsp course kosher salt

1. dough: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir the flours, 3/4 tsp salt, and the rosemary together in a mixing bowl. Stir in 4 T. of the olive oil, then rub the mixture between your fingers to break up any lumps and work the crumbs into the textureof cornmeal.. Stir in the milk and the water to form a medium-stiff dough. If it is too dry to easily come together into a dough, andd more water 1 at a time.

2. rolling: Line a large cookie sheet or the back of a baking sheet ( about 16x12 inches) with parchement paper. Roll the dough into a rectangle the same size as the pan. Roll it up on the rolling pin and unroll it on the parchment. With a pastry wheel or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into a 6x4 grid for 24 crackers with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle them with the sage leaves and the kosher salt.

3. Baking: Bake the crackers until they are browned around the edges and in spots throughout, 16 to 18 minutes. Slide the crackers onto a wire rack. If the crackers that were baked in the middle of the pan seem softer and less done, return them to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Cool the crackers for at least 30 minutes before serving to give them a chance to crisp. Store in a airtight container for up to 1 week.