12 March 2012


St. Patrick's Day is coming up this weekend.  Are you ready?  I think it's so fun to cook according to seasons and holidays. It's a really great way to mix things up and make dinner a little bit more interesting.  That's why I was so excited when my friend, Joan of Chocolate, Chocolate, and More invited me to be a part of her St. Patrick's Day Blog Party today.  It's just seven food bloggers all getting together and posting some kind of St. Patrick's Day related recipe at the same time.

Before I get to my recipe, here's what everyone else has to share with you:


Kimiko at Beachside Baker made a Shamrock Shake

I can't wait to check out all this yummy Irish and/or green food! :)

As soon as I got Joan's email, I knew what I wanted to make.  I saw a recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup in the March issue of Food Network Magazine.  It looked pretty simple and I couldn't wait to try it.  I made a few changes to the original recipe (of course!), and I think my version is even more simple.  Here's how I made it.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup matchstick carrots
¼ tsp ground allspice
1 (15 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
4 cups green cabbage, chopped (about ½ small head)
½ lb. potatoes, peeled and diced
¾ cup quick-cooking barley
4 cups water
½ lb. cooked corned beef, cut into thin strips and chopped
Kosher salt

Directions:
Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, carrots, and allspice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beef broth, cabbage, potatoes, barley, and water; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes and barley are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the corned beef and season with salt.

Makes 6 servings.

This is one hearty soup!  I love how it is packed with four different veggies AND potatoes and barley AND the corned beef.  It's a complete meal in and of itself.  Although that didn't stop us from enjoying some freshly baked rolls with it! 

The original recipe called for pulsing the veggies in a food processor before adding them to the pot, but I don't have a full-sized food processor, so I just diced my veggies and added them that way.  Again, I highly recommend the convenience of matchstick carrots.  They are so perfect for soups.  

The original recipe said that this makes 4 servings, but I think it makes WAY more than that.  I put down 6, but it could very easily be even more than that.  It would be a great soup to make for a crowd.  Also, the barley and potatoes will soak up some of the broth when you put the leftovers in the fridge, so keep that extra 1 cup of beef broth to add to it before reheating.

This would be a great soup to make the day after St. Patrick's Day if you have made a nice corned beef roast, since it calls for cooked corned beef.  I bought a roast, and cooked it simply according to the package, then sliced it up.  The original recipe called for only  ¼ lb. of meat, but that didn't look like very much, so I doubled it.  Glad I did because it was perfect.




So if you don't have any plans for what to make on St. Patrick's Day, check out the blog posts listed above for some great recipes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


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13 comments:

  1. This looks great and I cannot wait to make it!  I'm happy to be able to share the blog hop with you.  <3 and Hugs! 

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  2. This sounds sooooo yummy! So glad to be part of this blog hop with you, my new blogging friend :)

    xo,
    ~Melissa
    www.ChinDeep.com

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  3. Lesa, I love Corned beef and Cabbage! And as a soup, even better, the broth is always wonderful, the combination of these flavors, delish! And I don't have a food processor either, we do what we have to. 

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  4. Great soup - love the use of barley - just perfect for St Paddy's Day!
    mary x

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  5. AnaffairfromtheheartMarch 12, 2012 at 8:24 AM

    Lesa, My family LOVES corned beef and cabbage, I know they would love this twist on it!! Thanks for sharing!! So happy to be included in this blog hop with you!!

    Michaela - An Affair from the Heart

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  6. Me too! I'm always happy to make new bloggy friends! I was not familiar with your blog at all before this, so I will be spending some time exploring it today.

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  7. Yeah, a big food processor is definitely on my kitchen wish list, but for now, chopping will have to do!

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  8. Yeah, I had never cooked with barley before, but had been wanting to try it for a while, so this was perfect. 

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  9. I hope your family likes it. This blog party was so much fun!

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  10. This soup does sound really interesting and looks fantastic. I'm glad I got to share the blog hop with you Lesa! 

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