Slow Cooker Turkey and Pearl Barley Soup

Coming home to a slow-cooker dinner makes me so excited and happy, that it completely washes away my workday exhaustion.   Opening the door to warm, delicious aromas reminds me of coming home to family dinner when I was a kid.  Thank you Slow Cooker!!

This soup is a great way to use up turkey left-overs for a weeknight dinner.  Its thick and savory, almost like a stew.  The pearl barley makes it creamy, luxurious and satisfying.  

Here's what you'll need:

• carrots, 3-4 chopped
• celery, 2-3 stalks, chopped
• onion, large, chopped
• turkey, 3 cups, cooked and chopped (or chicken)
• chicken broth, low -sodium 48 oz. carton
• barley, 1 cup uncooked
• sage leaves, 1 tbsp. chopped, plus more for garnish
• salt & pepper

Here's what you'll do:

Add chopped vegetables to the slow cooker pot.

Add the turkey and barley, season.

Chicken broth and water until all is covered with liquid.

Add your chopped sage, cover and set on low heat for 8 hours.

To serve, stir, ladle into bowls.  Top with a bit of fresh sage and enjoy.

xo & a pinch

Kelly

Forbidden Shrimp

Black is the new rice.   Shrimp & rice is an easy quick dinner, but why not add some spicy drama to your table?  Substituting forbidden rice for the usual white or brown is an easy swap with big results.   There are no special cooking instructions, so as you're cooking it like regular rice, you can enjoy its deep black color and nutty aroma.   Couple with spicy, hot sautéed shrimp and you've got a knock-out of a dinner! 

Black rice has some added nutritional benefits too, like iron, vitamin E and more antioxidants than blueberries.  We used some coconut milk to prepare this rice, but fish stock or plain water would be just fine.  

To make the Rice:

• Black rice, 2 cups
• Coconut milk, 2 cups,  Water 2 cups  
• salt

Bring ingredients to a boil in a large covered saucepan.   Lower heat and let simmer until tender, about 45 minutes.

For the spicy shrimp:

• 1 lb peeled, tail-on Shrimp
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp Outer Limits Jalepeno Lime Sauce 
• thyme leaves, for garnish
• salt & pepper

In a large skillet, heat olive oil, butter, garlic and red pepper over medium heat.   Add hot sauce and sauté until shrimp is pink and opaque, 5-8 minutes for medium-sized shrimp.

We love to use Outer Limits Hot Sauce not only for its zesty and complex flavors made with fresh, all natural ingredients but also because its crafted by a local father & son team!  Pick up a bottle and give it try!  outerlimitshotsauce.com.

To serve, place rice on a large serving platter or bowl and pour shrimp with juices over the rice.   Garnish with thyme leaves or lime slices.

xo & a pinch

Kelly

*

Millie's "Pork" Fried Rice

.. just so we're clear, before we even start, this recipe entirely about the bacon.. yay!

Ready to serve, sans the wooden spoon!

This rice is the ultimate crowd pleaser.  Every time I serve it, people ask for the recipe and I love sharing it, because its my mom's.  You can serve this rice as a meal or as a side for your summer BBQ. In fact, it goes great with those "awesome ribs" below!  (click to see recipe)

When we were kids this was a staple and a favorite, actually. My mom "Millie" had only a few specialties & this was unquestionably one of them. (She'll be so psyched it's on our blog!)

The key to this recipe is the bacon, then again, everything is really better with bacon. If you're trying to lose weight, you may want to skip this one.

Two reasons : 1. loaded with bacon, 2. you'll eat it until your roll out of your chair..

Here's what you need.

• 3 cups Carolina White Rice (Dry) cooked according to package instructions
  • or 6 cups pre-cooked white rice from your Chinese Restaurant
• 1 lb Oscar Mayer bacon (when it's on sale, you can get it for $4.99 per lb!)
• 3 bunches of scallions (cleaned and chopped)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup Soy Sauce (Kikkoman)

First step, grab your favorite large non stick pan and fry an entire pound of bacon in it. When you're done, rather than pour out all the grease, pour out most of it but, save 1/4 cup. Then, don't wipe the pan clean, save all that "crispy yummy goodness" in the pan!

That's your base. Let it sit a bit while you make your rice. If your rice is cooked already, you're ready to start preparing.

Chop up all that bacon! Easiest way to do it is to grab about 4-5 pieces at a time and make a little bundle, all facing the same direction. Slice it into bite size pieces.

Next, clean and slice up the scallions, again bite size pieces, about 1/4 wide.

Take your eggs, scramble / beat them.

Grab your Kikkoman and get ready!

Turn the pan back on medium heat and fry those eggs in the bacon fat (grease) with the yummy goodness. Scramble them up until they're wet but, not dry and looking a little brown from all the goodness.

Add the cooked rice, and raise the heat to medium-high. Give it a good stir, keep stirring while it gets crispy and a little brown from all the bits, not burned. Cook it like that for about 5 minutes, pour the soy sauce on it and stir again of another 5 minutes (you can use more than a cup if you like.. taste it and see what you think along the way.)

At the end of 10 minutes, stir in the bacon and scallions. You don't want to keep on the heat much longer, maybe another 2-3 minutes just to warm everything up.

This is a shot of me and my sweet niece making mom's rice.  It must be be passed to the next generation, of course!

oh, to be young again 

Serve in a shallow serving dish, a wide shallow bowl, even a paella pan if you own one. Should serve 8-10 depending on what else you're serving. Enjoy every grain of this delicious rice!  I've been for all of my 29 years! (wink, wink)

Do you have a favorite recipe from childhood?

Let us know!

Enjoy, xo Measure & Millie & Little Miss A