Bees

It's getting cold. I have well and truly acclimatised to tropical summers. I love warmth. On the bright side, cooler weather means more and cheaper variety at both the markets and the grocery store. Last week broccoli was on special for $2 a kilo, and bunches of broccolini were marked down to 50 cents. We've been having lots of broccoli this week.

Last night, Andy and I were both feeling a bit rundown--not quite sick, but certainly not healthy. Earlier in the week I saw a recipe for Barley and Cannelini bean soup with Broccoli and Tomatoes, from The Vegan Gourmet cookbook. I figured soup would be a good way to warm us up from the inside and get us back to healthy. I mostly followed the recipe, with a few changes. I didn't have dried cannelini beans, so I used one tin of borlottis and one (small) tin of butter beans. I added a bit of zucchini and red capsicum, and used parsley and rosemary instead of oregano. The results were hearty and delicious:

Broccoli, barley, butter beans, borlotti beans, and broth. That's a lotta bees, yo. The recipe made so much, too! I have some for lunch today, plus we have enough for another small meal for the two of us. Maybe next time I'll cut the recipe in half, or squeeze some in to my teeny freezer. We served the soup with whole grain toast and lemon-ginger tea, to complete the warming effect.

By the end of dinner, I didn't notice the cold!