Vegetable Barley Soup

Source: The back of my Goya brand barley bag (with some alterations by myself)
Contributor: Victoria Blanchard

Servings: 2-3 (I highly recommend doubling this recipe if you are going to serve more than 2 adults and/or want to have leftovers)

Ingredients:
2 cups of vegetable, chicken, or beef stock
2 cups of water
1/2 cup dry barley
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 stalk of celery, diced
1/2 white onion
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste (I usually don't add any while cooking and let people season their own soup in the bowl; I like salt and Ry tends to go heavy on the pepper, so it makes sense for us)
Optional: meat or substitute other vegetables, but you would probably need to reduce the amount of something else, because this soup is already pretty "full"

Directions

Saute onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil in a large pot for 5-10 minutes so they start to cook. Add broth, water, seasonings, and barley. Let soup rise to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Depending on how high you keep the heat (if you're in a hurry, you can keep it boiling, but you'll have to watch it closer), it will take about 40-60 minutes for the barley to soften. Note that if you have leftovers, the barley will continue to absorb water. By the next day it will have absorbed all the remaining liquid. It still tastes great, it's just not what you could call soup by that point. But it's kind of nice to have big soft veggies and barley to fill your tummy with.

Notes: Ryan and I both LOVE this soup, especially with fresh oatmeal wheat bread on the side (topped with butter and honey, to die for!), and we can even get Katie to eat it without too much fuss. Two of my cooking goals in the past year or so have been to get more comfortable making soups and to start incorporating more grains and legumes into our meals. This recipe has been perfect for both. It is incredibly easy, and has helped me feel much less intimidated about soups. And now we eat barley once or twice a month, although I'd like to find another go-to recipe with barley in it because it is so good (and good for you, of course).