Lentil Barley Stew
Lentils and barley cook on the same clock. One pot, forty minutes, a real dinner at the end of it.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 900 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Brown or green lentils | 3/4 cup | not red or yellow, they dissolve |
|---|---|---|
| Pearl barley | 1/2 cup | pearl, not hulled, or the cook time doubles |
| Dried onion flakes | 3 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Dried carrot | 1/3 cup | |
| Vegetable bouillon | 2 tsp | paste base in a small jar, or powder |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | tomato paste in a tube also works |
| Ground cumin | 1 tsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Dried spinach flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Lime or lemon powder | 1 tsp | or a packet of true lemon |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Bring 900 ml of water to a boil. Add the lentils, barley, onion, carrot, bouillon, tomato powder, cumin, paprika, and the bay leaf.
- Drop to the lowest flame that keeps it moving. Lid on, 35 minutes. Stir every five or the barley welds itself to the bottom.
- Check a lentil. It should give completely. If the pot is going dry before that, add water 100 ml at a time.
- Kill the heat, stir in the spinach flakes, and put the lid back on for two minutes.
- Fish out the bay leaf. Add the oil, the lime powder, salt, and pepper. Taste and add more acid than you think it needs.
Lentils and pearl barley both finish in about forty minutes, which is the whole reason this works as one pot. Nothing gets added at staggered times and nothing turns to mush waiting on something else. Red and yellow lentils break down and would leave you with a thick sludge, so stick with brown or green.
The original is a home soup with fresh onion, carrot, spinach, and lime. Dried versions of all four rehydrate in the simmer and weigh almost nothing. The two things that matter at the end are the oil and the acid: fat carries the cumin and paprika, and the lime cuts through what is otherwise forty minutes of earthy starch. Add both off the heat, not during the boil, or you lose them.
Forty minutes is real fuel. On a short trip it is worth it. On a long one, carry the instant-rice version.
Packing
Everything dry except the oil goes in one bag. Keep the salt, pepper, and lime powder in a small separate bag so you can adjust at the end instead of guessing at home.
Variations
- Swap the barley for instant rice or quinoa to cut the simmer to fifteen minutes and make it gluten-free.
- A spoonful of dried cilantro or parsley stirred in off the heat brings back some of what drying takes out.
- Half a cup of couscous added in the last five minutes turns it from stew into something you eat with a fork.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/lentil-barley-soup