Winter Veg Soup
Serves 4
Vegetables for the soup
Ingredients
40g butter or 2 tbsp olive oil
2 sticks of celery
2 carrots
1 potato
3 small beetroot
1 leek
Black pepper
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
120g Quick Cook Barley Mix with yellow lentils and green peas
1.2 litres stock
Handful of parsley
Method
After the veg have softened in the butter or oil, add the barley & pulse mix, herbs and stock
Scrub all your vegetables well and cut into chunks - No need to peel if they are organic, lots of the goodness is under the skin and leaving the skin on also increases the fibre
Heat the butter or olive oil in a large heavy-based pan and add the vegetables and a generous grind of black pepper, give a good stir and put the lid on. Cook over a medium heat, stirring now and again, for about 10 minutes.
Then add the barley mix, bay leaves and thyme and pour over your stock.
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the barley and vegetables are soft.
Stir in the chopped parsley, check for seasoning and serve.
More about barley
The quick cook barley mix is great as it speeds up the soup making process. The fibre in barley is found throughout the grain, unlike other grains where the fibre is mostly in the hull, so the processing to make it quick cook doesn’t affect the fibre content too much.
If you can’t find any quick cook you can rinse a mix of pearl barley and red lentils and cook for about 30 minutes before adding to the soup.
Barley is a somewhat forgotten grain – it is cheap and nutritious. Barley is rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Some of our gut microbes like to munch on the barley’s soluble fibre and in turn they make short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are really important for our gut, and overall, health.
It has a lovely nutty flavour and makes the soup taste delicious. The lentils and peas help make the soup more filling too.
