Barley Vegetable Soup Crock Pot Recipe

One of the meals I cooked last week was Barley Vegetable Soup. 

 
I'd never had it before and didn't even know what barley was. The picture just looked so yummy, I decided to give it a try. My family loved it and enjoyed leftovers for lunch the next day.

The recipe came from a blog but I failed to write down the name, and a quick Google search didn't help. So if you're reading this, First Poster, please leave a comment.


Barley Vegetable Soup

Makes 12 cups (6 super hearty servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup pearl barley (not fast cooking)
1 large (or 2 small) bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and chopped
1 white onion, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 yams, peeled and chopped
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 (14) oz. cans vegetable broth
2 cups of water
14-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained

Directions:

Place all ingredients in crock pot in order listed, except for tomatoes. Do not stir. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Once time has elapsed, add tomatoes and stir. Taste for seasoning. Cook 15 more minutes and remove bay leaf before serving.

Changes I made to the recipe:

I cooked on high in my crock pot for 4 hours.
Omitted bay leaf and thyme since I had none. Instead used chicken seasoning
Omitted cloves, had none.
Used chicken broth as that's what I had ... and only used one large box of the broth.
I used 1 tsp. garlic from a jar.
Forgot the diced tomatoes!

In spite of my changes, the soup was hot and delicious, perfect on a cold winter evening. Hope you enjoy it, too.

P.S. My neighbor Jen, a dietician, suggested I add chicken next time, and that sounds even better. She gave me a A+ for fixing something so healthy ;) 
 

Hugs ~ Mary