Vegetable Barley Soup

Easy, Healthy and Delicious

I mentioned the Vegetable Barley Soup in my post yesterday so feel compelled to write about it today.  This was a definite winner for me.  I probably made the original batch over a month ago.  Part of my quest to eat more healthfully is to incorporate different grains into my diet.  Out with the pasta and white rice; in with the Quinoa and, in this instance, Barley. 

I first attempted barley years ago with a bag from the supermarket I don’t remember quite what I did with it but I know I ended up with some mush that I didn’t eat.  Time for round 2; if you do a search for Vegetable Barley Soup you will find that they are all pretty similar.  I guess when you have a winner you leave it be.  I pretty much followed Granny’s Vegetable Barley Soup posted on Care2 in 2004.  The only change was that I used chicken stock because that is what I usually have around.

Here’s the recipe:

1 onion, diced
Inner stalks and leaves of a head of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 quarts good-quality vegetable broth or water
1 cup barley
1 bay leaf
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed and chopped
1 large can (30 ounces) tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
1 1/2 cups seasonal greens–kale, chard, collards–coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt to taste

1. In a large soup pot, saute the onion and celery in oil until tender and starting to brown. Add broth or water and bring to a boil.

2. Rinse barley under running water and then add to boiling soup stock. Add bay leaf and simmer one hour, until barley is tender.

3. Add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and tomato juice to soup. Simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are very soft. Add more water if necessary.

4. Just before serving, add greens and basil, cooking until greens are just tender. Add salt to taste.

Serves 10 to 12.

I did everything up to step 4.  At that point I let it cool and then froze 2 quarts leaving one quart to be eaten immediately.  So, this recipe makes about 3 quarts of a thick hearty soup. 

When I heated it up I added greens usually spinach because I always have that lying around but sometimes kale.  Also, when I thawed out the remaining quarts I was continually adding to it, some broth, some water, leftover canned tomatoes so it really lasted.  I usually grated some fresh parmesan on top when I ate it and a couple of times stirred some basil pesto through it. 

This soup was ridiculously convenient.  I should always have some around because it made it really easy to eat healthfully and it tasted great.    I was probably eating it for lunch or dinner for over a month and did not tire of it.  I got my barley at the local co-op which I think means it’s fresh and might result in a “creamier” soup than if you are using possibly old barley.  Really I have no idea as this was only my second foray into barley but I do know the soup was very thick and “creamy”.  That might be a result of the potatoes too.   I keep putting creamy in quotes because it had that mouth feel but no cream so can you still call it creamy? 

When (not if) I make this again probably the only change I will make is to include more carrots and celery.  I will also try and make my own vegetable broth as I have a bunch of vegetable pieces in my freezer waiting to be turned into broth.  Oh yea, I might also include chickpeas as I saw those in a couple of the soup recipes I was looking for.

Here is Granny’s Recipe:  http://www.care2.com/greenliving/grannys-vegetable-barley-soup.html