Ramps, Barley, & Beans

As the wheel of the year keeps turning us further into spring, it is already nearing time to say goodbye to ramps which are generally only around for harvesting for about 4-6 weeks each spring.

I think I made good use of them this year, but a recent recipe I came across seemed like a good one to squeeze in before the season officially ends.

Here are the ingredients from the original recipe:

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup hulled barley, rinsed
1/2 pound ramps, whites and greens separated and sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground black pepper

And here is what I used instead:

2 cups vegetable broth and 2 cups whey (from my recent ricotta trial!)
3/4 cups hulled barley, rinsed
15 ramps, whites and greens separated and sliced
Salt & Black pepper
15 Oz. kidney beans

I thought this recipe would be better with the addition of some protein (the beans), I excluded a vegetable that is not in season (the celery), and I was excited to try my whey as a stock in addition to some vegetable stock! I also added some additional barley, but you might want to add even more if you give this recipe a go.

Directions:

First add the broth, barley, and the ramp whites to a stock pot. Bring to a boil and simmer 45 minutes.
After the simmering, add the greens and take half of the mixture and puree it in a blender to make it creamier.
Return the mix back to the pot, add the beans, and cook until everything is warmed.
Done!

Ramp, barley, and beans soup

I’m not sure why my version doesn’t seem nearly as green & creamy as the photo used by the magazine. Maybe this is because I didn’t use my good blender (too much clean-up to make soup!), or because I didn’t use enough ramp greens (some were yellowing as the season ends…), or maybe they were cheaters and used food coloring!

Either way, the meal was tasty & (mostly) local, but would have been better if I had found time to bake bread to go with it! Next time…

Also on ‘these light footsteps’: