Tuesday 6 January 2009

Bean,Barley and Vegetable Soup

In the winter I love soups. Always trying out new recipes. Found this in the Canadian Living Magazine January 2009 . It is a Campbell's soup ad recipe.
What made me try it was how healthy is seems to be with a low calorie count.I am trying to continue to eat healthier in 2009, made many changes over the last year and a half..Not a resolution but a life style change.
The soup has 120 calories per serving, serving 8, with just the 2 of us this will be a easy supper for busy days , so will be freezing leftovers.
Prep time 10 minutes tho I felt it is more like 20 minutes.

I did change a few things in the recipe to suit me and what was in the refrigerator.
1 TBSP. olive oil
2 large carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 large onion , chopped
1 garlic clove , mashed
2 bay leaves
1 box(900 ml) low salt chicken broth( or Vegetable Broth)
1 can red kidney beans(19 oz.)rinsed and drained
2 cups stewed tomatoes (plum if you have them)
1/3 cup pearl barley
2 cups firmly packed fresh spinach leaves( pkg of frozen fine too)
1 cup broccoli, chopped
Black pepper
Heat oil, in large dutch oven. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic, saute til tender.Stir in broth, tomatoes, barley , broccoli and bay leaves.Heat to a boil , reduce temperature to low. Cover cook for 30 minutes , til barley is tender.Stir in spinach , season to taste with pepper ( did not need any extra salt)Cook until spinach is tender .
Campbell's
rated this recipe as a full serving of vegetables and high in fiber.
My changes , added garlic, bay leaves, chicken broth instead of vegetable and the broccoli.Otherwise I think it would have been bland.
Flavour wise this soup was great, it is a very filling soup.

If you try this recipe would like to hear what you think of it.

2 comments:

Rosanne said...

Sounds like a good one to try!

Victoria Williams said...

Hi Rosemary. Love soups in winter also. Hubbie makes a great veggie soup. Yours looks great also.