This hearty, healthy soup is a full meal in 1 pot, but I made it all separate so that I could offer each of my kids their choices to make their bowl their own. One likes carrots and not tomatoes and one is the opposite, one likes beans and one doesn’t, so I made them pick out the tomatoes or carrots, but the rest I kept separate until they added it to their bowl.
Barley Lentil Vegetable Soup
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup barley
- 1/3 cup brown lentils
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots sliced
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 large onions chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes chopped by hand
- 1/2 bunch kale
- 1 can red kidney beans or your choice of beans
Instructions
- In a small pot place the barley and lentils (or you can cook them separate if you want) and add 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for about 30 minutes until desired texture.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the carrots, celery, onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes (and their juices) and about 2 cups water. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup has slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender, 45 to 60 minutes.
- When ready to serve you can add the kale and beans and the cooked barley and lentils or allow everyone to make their own bowl pouring the soup on last.
This recipe is so versatile, i didn't have canned tomatoes so I used spaghetti sauce, i didn't have kale so I used frozen spinach, you can add any kind of vegetables you want to this, i consider this a base and then I can clean out my refrigerator so nothing goes bad! Absolutely fantastic!!!!
Yes
Can I use green lentils, I couldn’t find brown.
You can add them in at step 3, it should be enough time to cook everything through, just make sure to add the extra water since they will absorb a lot of it.
This soup is amazing!
How would I make this in one pot instead of cooking the barley and lentils separately? What point would be best to add them in?
What a GREAT soup! It taste great and is uber healthy!!! I LOVE the lentils, beans, AND barley together. Barley just adds such a smooth texture to the overall soup!!! To see what else I have to say about this recipe check it out right here ( http://www.joyofkosher.com/2015/11/barley-lentil-vegetable-soup-review/ )
Yes, all of those ideas would work well, for sure leave out the tomatoes and just be careful how long you cook it if you have chicken in there, but I like the idea of the kielbasa best. Let me know if you try it.
can i do without the tomatoe? we arent big fans of it especially in soups.
Also what about adding some chicken to this? or even better – some meat like flanken or marrow bones & some cut up chuck? or to give it a smoky flavor some cut up keilbasa?
I cooked the lentils and barley together in a saucepan while I sauteed the vegetables in the dutch oven. I then put all of it together, except for the kale, to finish cooking. The barley and lentils were not quite done when I mixed it together, but finished cooking nicely with the veggies and beans. I put the chopped kale in to cook about 10 min before we ate. A good cold weather soup. We liked it. I will make this again.
Made this but when I served it I put everything together. I also added some cheese on top and served it with crusty garlic bread. Really good
Jaime’s recipe sounded awesome until I read the directions, whoa! I’ve made beef and barley, etc. for 35 yrs. and none of the directions will work. I will use the guidelines to make an amazing kosher soup!