Warming Barley and Vegetable Soup

Submitted by Shuzbud

"This is brilliant for Weight Watchers and is tasty even for those not watching their waistlines! The whole recipe, made as written, provides 15 points. I find it makes 6 bowls, so it's only 2.5 points per bowl. It's so filling that you won't be hungry until your next meal! It's worth including the parsnip in this recipe even though they can be hard to find as its flavour shines through in this dish. Make this soup vegetarian by using vegetable stock rather than chicken stock."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 cup pearl barley, uncooked
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 leeks, finely chopped
• 1 large potato, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and finely chopped
• 3⁄4 cup peas
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 chicken stock cube (or other preferred seasoning)
• salt and pepper, to taste

directions

1. Rinse the pearl barley in water. You may need to soak it if the package directions recommend it. Otherwise try to find a "no-soak" variety.
2. Put the pearl barley and chicken stock in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Skim off any scum.
3. Stir in all the vegetables from carrots to garlic. Crumble in the stock cube (I use this purely to add flavour- you could use another seasoning mix).
4. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour. The vegetables should be covered by enough liquid throughout- add more stock or water if they are not.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is too thick for your liking, stir in a small amount of water or milk.
6. Serve hot and enjoy!

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

I'll admit I made a few changes when preparing this soup, but I did want it vegetarian! I used vegetable stock instead of the chicken variety. I then left out the cube of chicken stock, while seasoning it all well with lemon pepper! Very, very comforting the first time around, & just as satisfying as left-overs! [Tagged & made in Please Review My Recipe]

 

[zaar junkie]

Great vegetable and barley soup. I made this easier by throwing most everything in crockpot and cooking on low for 10 hours. I used veggie broth only and added salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I only had quick cooking barley, so precooked that and added the barley and canned peas to the crock about 15 minutes before serving. We made 4 main entree servings out of this recipe, at 7 points per serving. This is something I would make again. Thanks!

 

[breezermom]

I was really wanting a nice hot soup, and this turned out wonderful. I made it exactly as posted, and really enjoyed it. The barley really fills you up. I'll take Deantini's tip and use broth instead of stock next time to reduce the calories even more. Thanks for sharing! Made for Holiday tag.

 

[Deantini]

This soup is great whether you are watching your diet or not. The barley turns the soup almost creamy and the flavours from the veggies added with a bit of salt and pepper are just wonderful. Very filling, very healthy and very warming, indeed. I halved the recipe, did not use any potato and used chicken broth (note that the nutritional value for chicken stock is quite high in calories on Zaar, if you used broth you have only a fraction of the calories), used green onion instead of leeks.The whole pot had a calorie count of 550!!! So I had an incredilby filling dinner for less than 250 cal, amazing. A soup that you can 'snack on' later in the eveing without feeling guilty at all.

 

[SarahBeth]

This was just what I needed last night as I felt an early Spring/ late Winter head cold coming on. This was so warm and comforting and low in points too. The only change I made was to use 2 potatoes since I could not find any parsnips. I found the seasoning and flavor to be right on the mark and I used sea salt and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper. I am looking forward to another bowl (leftovers, YES!) tonight to ease the cold and fill my tummy! :D Thanks for posting Shuz! Keep all these wonderful soups coming! [Made for Holiday Tag February 2010]