Southwest Barley & Lentil Soup

New Year's Eve, 2019 ending. Ryan was at the firehouse for the holiday — New Year's shifts are mandatory rotation and he had drawn it. I went to Oak Lawn and sat with Steve and Patty and watched the ball drop and drank the small glass of Champagne Patty pours every year and ate the kielbasa she makes because it is tradition and Steve said "Same as last year" about the ball drop exactly as he has said every year and I said "Same as last year" back and he gave me a look that was slightly amused, which from Steve is a standing ovation.

Ryan texted at midnight from the firehouse. He said "Happy new year. You okay?" I said yes. He said "Same." He said "The gnocchi. She approved." I said I know. He said "Babcia Rose." I said she is something. He said "She is everything." Yes. She is. I held the phone in the Oak Lawn kitchen at midnight with Patty asleep in the chair and Steve watching the late news and thought: she is 89. She made forty-eight pierogi from muscle memory. She left a recipe book in Poland in 1958 and she has been making those recipes in her head for sixty-one years and she held my hand and said: you have them. I have them. I have them because she gave them to me and I was paying attention and I wrote them down while she was not looking and now they are mine and hers both, forever.

Made black-eyed peas again on New Year's Day — third year running. Good luck food. The lucky bean is not magic, I know this, but it is a practice and practices have their own power. I make the same thing at the same time every year and it says: I am still here, I am still cooking, I am marking time with food because that is what I have always done and it is the right thing to do.

2019: I met Ryan at a wedding and we are together and he is good. I wrote the Jess chapter. I sent fifty pages to an agent. I spent three hours in Babcia Rose's kitchen getting the pierogi almost right. Isabel used her tablet in twelve new ways. Mateo asked for help independently. T. is in a new classroom, reading. I am going to be twenty-five in March. 2020 is going to be enormous. I can feel it from here, the way you feel weather coming in from the lake. I am ready for it. I am ready.

The black-eyed peas are the anchor, but I’ve learned that the lucky bean works best when it has company — something warm and earthy and filling enough to carry you into January. This Southwest Barley & Lentil Soup has become my New Year’s Day vehicle for the whole practice: lentils for luck, barley for abundance, enough cumin and smoke to make the kitchen smell like intention. I made it the morning after Steve said “same as last year” and Ryan texted from the firehouse and I stood in Patty’s kitchen thinking about Babcia Rose and sixty-one years of recipes held in muscle memory — and I thought, yes, this is exactly right, this is how you mark time, this is how you say: I am still here, I am still cooking.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 can (15 oz) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
7 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Fresh cilantro, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Build the base. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6–8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Bloom the spices. Stir in cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, oregano, and cayenne. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant and lightly toasted.
Add liquids and grains. Pour in both cans of tomatoes with their juices, then add the broth, lentils, and barley. Stir to combine. Raise heat to bring the soup to a boil.
Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially with a lid, and simmer for 40–45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender and barley is cooked through.
Add the black-eyed peas. Stir in the drained black-eyed peas and cook for a final 5 minutes until heated through. The soup will be thick; add a splash of broth or water if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Finish and season. Squeeze in lime juice and season generously with salt and black pepper. Taste and adjust spice level as needed.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro. Leftovers thicken considerably overnight — just add a little broth when reheating.

Nutrition (per serving)

Southwest Barley & Lentil Soup — The Lucky Bean That Marks Another Year