Barley Minestrone Soup
This stick to your ribs Barley Minestrone Soup is perfect for a chilly day! Carrots, greens, beans, and barley will fill you up and keep you cozy!
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearled barley (with 3 cups water for cooking)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil divided
- vegan Italian sausages I like Field Roast and gardein brands
- 1 large onion diced
- 2-3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups water
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes or use diced, or a combination of diced and crushed
- 2 cups white beans (one can)
- 2 cups loosely packed greens chopped and stems removed (kale, chard, spinach, etc.)
Instructions
- Prepare barely according to package directions—essentially bring 3 cups water to a boil, add 1 cup barley, return to boil, reduce to simmer and add salt (1 teaspoon) and cover. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the soup.
- In a large pot (where you will later cook the soup), prepare the vegan sausage according to package instructions. When finished, remove from the pot and set aside until serving.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the pot with the sausage scrapings still on the bottom. Add the onion and sauté until softened (4-5 minutes). Add carrots and sauté a minute longer. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add nutritional yeast, salt, oregano and black pepper and stir well. Place bay leaves in pot and add crushed tomatoes and water, starting with just a little to deglaze the pot, and then adding the rest. Add in half of the beans and bring to a boil. This will help the beans to break down into a creamy broth, while the reserved beans will provide a nice texture.
- Once the carrots are tender, add the barley (and any remaining cooking water) and the remaining beans. Add the greens and allow them to wilt into the soup. Remove bay leaves.
- Serve in bowls with diced vegan sausage on top. Yum!
Notes
*If you wanted this to be gluten free you could substitute quinoa, rice or small gluten free pasta for the barley, and use GF sausage)