Vegetable Barley Soup

After a damp, dreary morning spent in a hockey rink, trying to watch my son play, where the glass was so fogged up I just stood there, hoping he would know I was watching even though I couldn’t see a thing, all I wanted was a hot bowl of soup!

So when we got home, I rummaged through the refrigerator and figured I could just throw together some basics without a recipe and it would be good enough.

Although it seemed like I was making chicken soup without the chicken, it came out pretty darn good, and is worthy to stand on its own.

The soup got better as it stood on the stove over a few hours, but I can’t tell you anything more than that, because it was all gone before I could save any for tomorrow!

Vegetable Barley Soup

4 Tbsp. olive oil

3 stalks celery, diced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, diced

3 small leeks, white and light green part, washed well and diced

1 small bunch parsley, chopped

1 C. barley, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

12 C. water or broth (if using broth, reduce salt to taste)

Heat oil in a 6 quart pot.  Add all the vegetables (except parsley) and saute for about 4-5 minutes, until onions are softened.  Add parsley, tomato paste and spices and stir another minute.  Add barley and combine with vegetables.  Add water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer for about an hour.  Give a stir every once in a while.  I left it simmering even after the hour was up, and it thickened and was delicious.

You can also add simple free-form dumplings before serving, by bringing soup back to a boil. Combine 1 egg, 1 tablespoon oil and 3-4 tablespoons of flour in a bowl, until a batter forms.  Lift some of the dough by forkful and hold over the pot of soup and using another fork, scrape dough in a ribbon (or clump) into the soup.  Continue until all the batter is used up. Allow the dumplings to cook for a minute or two.  That’s it!