Barley Vegetable Soup

This soup is really easy and a great one to make on a cool, rainy Saturday in. It also makes the house smell delicious. This was the first time using my new slow cooker, and I liked that it cut down on the prep time and preserved a lot of the flavor in the soup. The amounts are very flexible, depending on how large your slow cooker and how many veggies and seasoning you want in it. I got the barley tea bags from a Korean grocery store in New York, but you could probably use regular barley and get the same result.

Barley Vegetable Soup

Carrots, chopped (about 6)

Diced tomatoes (1 can)

Red potatoes, chopped (about four small potatoes)

Lentils (about 3/4 cup dry)

Frozen petite peas (about 1/2 a bag, or 1 cup)

Small boiling onions, sliced in half or quartered (about 7 or 8)

Two or three large barley tea bags

Add to taste:

Black pepper

Olive oil 

Parsley 

Salt 

Bay leaf

Steep barley tea in boiling water until strongly flavored. Add all soup ingredients and flavorings to slow cooker and pour barley broth over ingredients until dish is full. Set slow cooker on high for about 5 hours.


Recipe by H. Farrell