Barley Soup with Asparagus and Radish
WELCOME TO MY BLOG! I’M EVANGELINE & A MOM. ALSO, AN RMT and AYURVEDA-YOGA COUNSELLOR. I STARTED MY BLOG DURING COVID TO STAY CONNECTED TO MY CLIENTS AND SHARE MY LOVE OF COOKING HEALTHY, AYURVEDIC MEALS.
AYURVEDIC COOKING TAKES A BALANCED, HEALING APPROACH FOR YOUR DAILY COOKING NEEDS. YOU WILL FIND SIMPLE, EASY TO MAKE NOURISHING MEALS I HAVE MADE FOR MY FAMILY, WITH A DOSE OF AYURVEDA & YOGA WISDOM.
The simplest of meals are the ones where the ingredients are readily available, in season, fresh, inviting you to partake in nature’s offerings. Two spring vegetables currently offering their goodness are asparagus and radish. Enjoy this soup! It is simply delicious and amounts to a whole lot of goodness and great to have during cleansing seasons, spring and fall.
Barley Soup with Asparagus and Radish
Yields: 2-3 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
ingredients
½ cup barley, overnight and rinsed well
4 cups water or stock
¼ - ½ tsp ghee or olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground fennel
½ tsp ground cumin
⅛ tsp turmeric
1 small Thai green chili (optional)
1 small piece of ginger (optional)
9 asparagus spears, stems peeled cut in bite size pieces
3 small white daikon radish or 5 red radishes cut in bite size pieces
½ tsp soma salt (less or omit if you are doing a cleanse)
INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium sauce pan warm the ghee or olive oil on medium-low heat.
Add spices and barley and combine all together until aroma is released.
Add water.
Turn up heat to high. Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn heat down to medium-low and cover with a lid. Cook for 35 minutes.
Add radish and cook for another 5 minutes, covered, then add asparagus cooking for another 5 minutes covered.
Garnish with cilantro leaves and a squirt of lime. Serve immediately. Have on its own or enjoy with some protein, like this Ginger Basil Paneer dish, for a heartier meal.
Enjoy!
Ayurvedic Profile of Ingredients
Asparagus - cooling, sweet taste and pairs well with radish; cleans the kidneys and flush impurities out of the urinary system; a diuretic
Barley - high in fibre; keeps cholesterol levels in check; binds toxins in preparation for elimination
Radish - good for the kidneys, and opens up the physical channels to usher impurities out through the urinary system.
Coriander - cooling, diuretic, binds toxins for elimination through the kidneys
Cumin - helps with digestion and absorption of nutrients
Fennel - cooling, balancing effect to support digestion
Soma Salt - high in minerals and “cooling” to the body compared to other salts that are “heating”; prized in traditional Ayurvedic text, Charak Samhita, as the best of the eight types of Himalayan salts.
Turmeric - cleanses the liver, known in Ayurveda as a “friend to the liver”, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial
