Barley Broth

Barley Broth

Big hearty filling soups are great in the cold weather. I can’t think of anything more nourishing than a bowl of freshly made steaming hot soup. Barley is a fabulous ingredient to use and offers many health benefits ranging from balancing blood sugar, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, to boosting energy, combating stress and protecting against heart disease and cancer.!

Its an excellent source of essential minerals magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and selenium to name but a few and also high in B vitamins and soluble fibre.

It makes a delicious creamy soup and doesn’t require soaking overnight, though you can soak it if you are that organised!

Remember to use local organic vegetables if you can for maximum nutrition. Locavore deliver locally grown organic vegetables weekly to Glasgow and surrounding areas. They offer great quality produce and the best prices you will find so please consider signing up for a delivery then you will have less excuses for eating more vegetables!!

So what are you waiting for, go make yourself some deliciously creamy, extremely nutritious Barley Broth!

Here is the recipe, feel free to add whatever other vegetables you have and just add more stock if the broth is too thick! Enjoy!!


Ingredients

1 leek, finely sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely diced

2 parsnips or ½ small turnip, finely diced

½ cup of barley (about 100g), rinsed

1.5 litres vegetable stock(Marigold Bouillon or Kallo Organic Stock Cubes are good)

Big handful of finely shredded greens, kale, cavolo nero, spring cabbage are all good

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 bay leaf (optional)

Big handful of parsley, finely chopped


Method

1. Heat oil in a large pan
2. Add onion, leek and bay leaf, with a pinch of sea salt, put the lid on and cook gently for 5 minutes
3. Add the carrot, turnip or parsnips, barley and stock
4. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for around 45 minutes until the veg are soft and the barley cooked
5. Add the finely shredded greens and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Stir in the finely chopped parsley
7. Serve and enjoy!

I season mine with seaweed flakes to boost the mineral content and add unique umami flavour which gives the soup a real depth of flavour.