Winter vegetable and bean soup

Winter is not my season. Dark, cold, sleepy. But hot soup and oven-fresh bread were made for January and February. It's inexpensive, makes the house smell wonderful, and makes lots of food (freeze the leftovers!). The best part is how easy it is to make -- throw a bunch of raw ingredients in a slow cooker in the morning, and hours later, dinner! I often plan what type of soup I will make by what frozen veggies I have in my freezer that need to be used. Here's a filling soup that I'll be enjoying for many meals to come...

Winter vegetable and bean soup

2 cups dry lentils
2 1/2 cups presoaked chickpeas
2 cups presoaked barley
2 cups chopped onion (about one bag frozen)
one small package frozen kale
2 cups frozen green beans
1 cup frozen green peas
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
2 T lemon juice
6 tsp chicken bouillon (sodium free)
1/2 tsp each dried oregano, parsley, marjoram and turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
sea salt and black pepper to taste (I used about 2 tsp each)
10 cups water*

Prepare dry chickpeas and barley by soaking in cold water overnight. Combine all ingredients in a large slow cooker and set on high for about four hours. Then, cook on low for another three hours. I had to keep adding water because the soup was getting so thick, but eventually I couldn't fit more water in my slow cooker. If you have a larger one, add more than 10 cups of water. Otherwise, just add some hot water before serving to thin it out a bit. Enjoy, and stay warm!

(Recipe by H. Farrell)