Got home last night after a cross country flight, got up early so I could be to work by 7, left work at 4 to pick up the vegbox by 4:30, and yet by 5:15 there was still no vegbox. Tired and grouchy and cold, I decided to make some soup.

Mushroom Barley Soup

You need:

• 1 VeryLarge portobella mushroom, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• handful of baby carrots, diced
• 3-4 cups of chicken broth
• herbes de provence
• handful of barley

Saute the onion and carrots in oil (or butter) until browned.
Then add the portobella mushroom. Saute until steamy.
Add chicken broth and a teaspoon of herbes de provence.
Bring to boil.
Add barley.
Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, or until barley is cooked through.

Tonight I was in a hurry to use up as many of the veggies as possible (while leaving some delicious leftovers for Emily). So for dinner I made:

Roasted Cauliflower:
Heat oven to 400. Chop cauliflower into big chunks, put on a baking sheet (one with sides, preferably). Mince some garlic over top. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. olive oil over the top Put a little sea salt on top. Roast for 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

Root Veggie Soup:
Chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Saute in a big soup pot. Chop up a parsnip or two, a turnip, a potato, and some carrots. Put them into the soup pot, and put the lid on. Turn the heat down to medium, and let steam/fry for about 10 minutes. Pour in 3-4 cups of broth (I used chicken broth) and simmer for 30 minutes. Pulse blend the soup until mostly pureed.

Apple Crisp
I used this recipe – not as good as my Mom’s, but still good.

Everything was great. The soup was sweeter than I expected – I guess because of the carrots.And the roasted cauliflower transformed Emily into a cauliflower-lover with one bite.