[beachgal]

Made this and really enjoyed it! I just used some homemade broth I had on hand rather than doing the first step, but the reviews said that it added a lot of flavor if you're using canned broth. Of course, if you are going for a vegetarian soup, use vegetarian broth instead. Suggestions are in red.

Hearty Bean and Barley Soup
From Cooking Light

This satisfying Italian-style soup features a delicious and iron-packed combination of red kidney beans and spinach. It's also high in fiber and calcium. To ensure rich flavor, add garlic and herbs to canned broth for a homemade taste. Mashing a portion of the beans gives the soup extra body. ( With barley and carrots, this is a Phase 2 soup. I think you might want to use regular barley and adjust the cooking time as quick-cooking barley might be too processed. )


7 cups fat free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 (4-inch) rosemary sprigs
1 (19-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley [you may want to increase the liquid/cooking time and use regular barley]
10 cup torn spinach leaves (about 4 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a Dutch oven; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 15 minutes. Drain through a sieve into a large bowl; discard solids.
Measure 1 cup beans, and mash with a fork in a small bowl. Reserve the remaining whole beans.

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add onions, carrot, and celery; cook 4 minutes. Add broth mixture, mashed beans, whole beans, tomatoes, and barley; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes. Stir in spinach and black pepper; cook 5 minutes or until barley is tender. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 cup soup and 1 tablespoon cheese)

TEST ; CALORIES 208 (% from fat); CALORIESFROMFAT 15%; TEST ; FAT 3.4g (test , satfat 1.4g, test ); MONOFAT 1.4g; TEST ; POLYFAT 0.4g; TEST ; PROTEIN 11.4g; TEST ; CARBOHYDRATE 34g; TEST ; FIBER 8g; TEST ; CHOLESTEROL 5mg; TEST ; IRON 2.3mg; TEST ; SODIUM 615mg; TEST ; CALCIUM 156mg;
Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2001

[LindaBC]

I made this soup for our supper tonight. It was truly a meal in a bowl. Of course, I can't make anything without tweaking the recipe a bit, depending on what I have on hand.
First change was I soaked and cooked dried kidney beans. I also used more beans than called for because I thought the soup was a bit liquidy.
Then, because I've never even seen instant barley in our local shops, I used regular barley (1 cupful). That plus the extra beans made it more like a stew than a soup but it was really delicious. I guess it helped that I used an old Italian trick of simmering the rind from a Parmesan cheese wedge in with the soup.
Oh yeah, I never bothered to strain the broth because I had put the barley in right at the beginning so no point straining it. It seems to be an unnecessary step anyway. I used dried rosemary.
Thanks for the recipe. I could live on stuff like this.