Now this is a comfort food that everyone is familiar with: Vegetable barley soup. This recipe is perfect because you can use the leftover scraps from your vegetable prep or any vegetable stocks you left behind. You don’t have to use all ingredients to make the soup. You can substitute for each ingredients or add more or less of something.  For example: If it’s fall, you may want to use more squash because that is squash season. You can add more barley if you want more fiber and B vitamins. It’s all about testing this recipe to your personal preference. This is my version of a vegetable barley soup if you want it year-round. It’s pack of fiber and vegetables that I guarantee it will turn anyone on to eat vegetables.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup barley

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, small dice

1 large carrot, peeled and dice

1 stalk celery, small dice

1 medium turnip, small dice

1/2 pc butternut squash, peeled and small dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 plum tomatoes, canned, seeded and diced

1.5-2L Vegetable stock

1/4 bunch parsley, finely chopped

3 sprigs of thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Toast barley in oven until nutty in aroma (approximately 10 to 12 minutes).
3. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and turnip and sweat.
4. Stir in garlic & tomato paste, cook for 1 minute. Add toasted barley, tomatoes, stock and butternut squash.   Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Skim off any foam/impurities.
5. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until barley and squash are tender.
6. Season to taste and finish with chopped parsley.

 

This recipe serves 4-5 people and can be stored for 3 days in the fridge in an air-tight container or up to 3 months in the freezer in an air-tight container.