Hearty barley and veggie soup

Hearty barley and veggie soup

This soup is scrumptious. The barley gives it a lovely smooth and creamy texture and the veggies and corn give it subtle sweetness. It's a good winter or early spring soup and, like many of my other recipes, the flavor is even better the next day. Chopping the veggies is the most laborious part of this recipe, however then you just throw them in the soup pot and the only other step to take care of is cooking the barley, which i like to do separately, if i haven't remembered to pre-soak it the night before. Cooking it separately on the night seemed to save time.

Serves 4 (as main size)

Ingredients:

125 g pearl barley

1 C water + extra as needed.

1/2 massel imitation chicken stock cube

juice from the can of corn used in the soup below

1 spanish onion, finely diced

1 leek, finely sliced

salt & pepper

4 carrots, peeled and diced

3 sticks celery, diced

1/2 C water + 4-6 C extra

1 super sized potato, peeled and diced

2 massel imitation chicken stock cubes

1/2 red capsicum, finely diced

1/2 bunch italian parsley, roughly chopped

2 large zucchini, diced

1 can corn

1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed well

1 small bag of green beans, top and tailed and then cut into small circles

Method:

I begin with the barley, and once it's on the go then i begin to chop my veggies.

In a medium sized pot, add the barley, the 1/2 stock cube and water and put it on the stove on med-high heat. Bring to the boil and then once the water begins to absorb, add more and repeat the process until the barley is cooked - this will take about 30 minutes. For the last water addition, add the juice from the can of corn. The barley when cooked should be creamy, smooth and soft to bite into - it almost takes on an oatmeal consistency.

For the soup:

In a large cast iron pot add the onion, leek, salt and pepper and stir to prevent sticking. Add the carrots and celery and then the 1/2 C water so things don't catch.

Add the potatoes, stock cubes and 4 C water.

Bring to the boil and turn down the heat. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the diced red capsicum and parsley. Add extra water as needed. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the cooked barley and then stir through zucchini, corn, butter beans, and green beans. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let sit for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with some extra parsley sprinkled on top :)