Vegetable barley soup recipe

Vegetable barley soup is frugal & filling & delicious

This particular soup came about when I was cleaning my fridge and freezer one cold and blustery Sunday afternoon. Usually I have a menu plan for the week already in place by Sunday, but this particular Sunday I didn't. In fact, I didn't feel like going grocery shopping either. And since I had a freezer full of leftovers, and a lot of veggies that needed to be used up, and 2 pounds of barley in my cupboard, I thought, "Hmmmm...soup again? Why not?"

I used the veggies I had in my fridge and freezer, but you can use any veggies, even canned corn, peas and green beans. Try frozen corn, peas & green beans. Whatever you've got will do just fine. If you don't care for tomatoes, leave them out. If you have stewed or diced tomatoes in the fridge, use those instead of whole peeled. If you have crushed tomatoes, used those instead! This soup is meant to be frugal, delicious & filling, so use your imagination and use up what you have on hand!

Vegetable Barley Soup
Ingredients:
2 quarts vegetable broth (make your own vegetable broth)
1 quart water
1 cup chopped sweet yellow white or red onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
1 package (10 ounces) frozen spinach (or substitute 1 pound fresh spinach)***
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup white potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped fennel (optional)
1 can (16 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, reserve juice
2 cups pearlized barley, uncooked
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
In 6 to 8 quart stockpot, add vegetable broth, water, reserved juice from canned tomatoes,onion and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and add barley and all other veggies EXCEPT TOMATOES.
***if using frozen spinach and you haven't thawed it, add it at this time. If you have thawed it or you are using fresh spinach, add with tomatoes the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
Add salt & pepper to taste; cover and simmer on LOW heat for about 2 hours until barley is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
Add chopped tomatoes last 30 minutes of cooking time. Yield: 8 servings

Rachael's Recipe Notes:
This can be made in the crockpot. Add all ingredients as listed in above directions, cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, until barley is cooked through. If starting with already cooked potatoes and barley, you can cut the cooking time down to 6 to 8 hours. Add thawed chopped tomatoes & thawed spinach the last 60 minutes of cook time.
Kale (fresh or frozen) can be substituted for spinach.
Okra (fresh or frozen) can be added or even substituted for the potatoes. If you use okra, use 4 cups more water or vegetable broth.

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