Couscous recipes

Chunky vegetables with toasted couscous

30 minutes

Beans recipes

Creamy beans with pan-fried baby marrow ribbons

25 minutes

Tomato saffron chicken

45 minutes

Flapjack recipes

Pumpkin flapjacks with butterscotch sauce

30 minutes

Roast pork with pumpkin and baby apples

2 hours

Pumpkin, sage and blue cheese tart

30 minutes

Mascarpone and pumpkin risotto with ground nutmeg

40 minutes

Fall-off-the-bone lamb shanks on sweet pumpkin mash

1 hour

Lamb recipes

Lamb steaks with celeriac gratin

1 hour

Beer Food

Pork-and-apple sausages with beer-baked sauerkraut

40 minutes

Fish recipes

Goat’s cheese and spinach bake

40 minutes

Chicken recipes

Chicken, barley and vegetable soup

1 hour 10 minutes

Chicken, barley and vegetable soup

By Phillippa Cheifitz

Serves 6

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cooking Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 x 700 g pack vegetable soup mix
750g - 1 kg chicken pieces (a mix of thighs and drumsticks works best)
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
8 cups water
1 cup barley
1 bay leaf

Method

Wash and chop the leeks, celery and parsley from the vegetable soup mix. Peel and cut the carrots and turnips into chunks.

In a large saucepan over a medium heat, brown the chicken in the heated oil. Remove and season to taste. Add the leek, celery and onion to the saucepan and cook gently until softened.

Stir in the garlic. Return the chicken to the saucepan, pour in the water, add the barley, bay leaf, vegetable chunks and parsley (reserve a little for garnishing) and bring to the boil.

Skim off any scum, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for an hour, or until the chicken and barley are very tender and the broth lightly thickened – if necessary, uncover and reduce over a brisk heat.

Check seasoning, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Cook’s notes: Use dill instead of parsley for a more complex flavour dimension. Or, for something completely different, use more barley and less liquid to make a thick pottage and top with sautéed mushrooms.

Per serving: 1892.6 kJ, 26.7 g protein, 20 g fat, 29.7 g carbs

TASTE’s take:

The irresistible aroma of chicken and barley simmering on the stove will cheer up the coldest of nights. Brown the chicken first for extra flavour.

Spinach lasagne

Kung pao chicken

Durban fish curry

Chunky vegetables with toasted couscous

Creamy beans with pan-fried baby marrow ribbons

Tomato saffron chicken

Pumpkin flapjacks with butterscotch sauce

Roast pork with pumpkin and baby apples

Pumpkin, sage and blue cheese tart

Mascarpone and pumpkin risotto with ground nutmeg

Fall-off-the-bone lamb shanks on sweet pumpkin mash

Lamb steaks with celeriac gratin

Pork-and-apple sausages with beer-baked sauerkraut

Goat’s cheese and spinach bake

Chicken, barley and vegetable soup

Chicken, barley and vegetable soup

Ingredients

Method