Vegetable Barley Soup

Our daughter is a vegetarian, so I needed to quickly invent a vegetable soup while simultaneously making beef stew.  I just chopped extra veggies and used some barley.  Our English daughter said that it was now a vegetarian version of Scotch broth.  That sounds way more exotic than veggie soup!

Vegetable barley soup

1 can vegetable broth
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped potatoes
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 Tablespoons barley
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

 

Heat some olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Sauté the onions until soft.  Stir in the tomato paste.  Add the broth, carrots and potatoes and bring to a boil.  Add the barley and the bay leaf and lower the heat to a simmer for 40 minutes.  Cover with the lid.  Stir occasionally.

 

Add the peas and continue cooking for 20 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf and serve immediately.

 

You may want to serve it with Irish soda bread.  We did!

I didn't eat any because this was for Tara and I had my stew.  She said it was great.