SPINACH AND BARLEY SOUP


SPINACH AND BARLEY SOUP
I started preparing soups for dinner for the past few months ever since my husband and I started a low-carb diet. Initially I was preparing bean soups, tomato soups, and French onion soups when I started searching blogs for more soup recipes. I came across a tomato barley soup recipe from one of my fellow bloggers and that soup turned out real well. This led me to experimenting with barley soups and this is one such recipe. As usual, we had this soup with whole wheat dinner rolls and it was a hearty and filling dinner. Here goes the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
Spinach, 1 large bunch, or frozen spinach, 1 cup.
Onion, medium-sized, 1.
Canned tomatoes, ½ cup.
Garlic, 2 cloves.
Barley, 1 cup.
Italian seasonings, 1 teaspoon.
Salt and pepper as per taste.
Water or chicken broth or vegetable broth, 4 cups.
Dried parsley and basil, ¼ teaspoon (optional).

PREPARATION:
Dice the onion finely and crush the garlic coarsely and keep aside. Wash the spinach thoroughly and chop it into fine pieces. Heat a pot with some olive oil and when the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are well caramelized. Then add the spinach and sauté for a few more minutes until everything is blended. Add the canned tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes and switch off the stove and let it cool. Once cooled, blend the mixture into a smooth puree and add the puree back into the pot. Add 4 cups of water or broth along with the seasonings, dried herbs, salt and pepper as per taste along with 1 cup of barley and cook under medium flame for 15-20 minutes until the barley is cooked. Ladle the soups into bowls and serve hot with any whole grain breads.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perfect soup for a diet you follow...healthy and inviting..Colorful too

Varsha Vipins said...

Great soup Gita..that color is so healthy looking that you can actually feel good when you r having it..:D

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

super healthy soup.... wanna have it right now.

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a healthy soup Gita, Love the combination of spinach n barley...

Chitra said...

Nice soup for people under diet:)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Barley is great to eliminate unwanted water in the body. Good to know a wonderful soup with this. Looks so delicious dear.

Vikis Kitchen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vaishali said...

Lovely soup, Gita. Sounds terrifically healthy too.

Jaishree Iyer said...

Healthy soup Gita..colourful& inviting..

Laavanya said...

I love the texture of barley.. what a fabulous idea to combine spinach & tomatoes in this one - sounds awesome.

AnuSriram said...

Thats a healthy soup! Comforting!!

Cham said...

Bowl of goodness the soup is so inviting!

Recipeswap said...

Healthy soup.

Vibaas said...

Healthy soup. bookmarking it :)

Anonymous said...

Barley in soup..very intriguing

lubnakarim06 said...

Nutritious and yum.

Malar Gandhi said...

Barley and spinach sounds very healthy to me, love ur idea...wish I get some barley here...

Poornima Nair said...

Thats a really healthy soup Gita...sounds delicious.
First time at your blog...you have a wonderful collection.

Adlak's tiny world said...

perfect healthy yummy soup gita.

Uma said...

lovely soup Gita! Looks so colorful and yummy.

Purva Desai said...

This is really protein packed soup

Shama Nagarajan said...

lovely healthy soup dear

Sia said...

addition of barley in common spinach soup is a lovely idea!

Astra Libris said...

Mmmm, this sounds wonderful... Healthful and scrumptious!! I love fixing soups too - they're such healthy cozy meals! I just happen to have some barley in the pantry, too... :-) I can't wait to try your recipe!

Anonymous said...

What a healthy soup Gita! Great recipe, thank you for sharing! -Alisa from www.foodista.com

Shobana senthilkumar said...

i can also follow this ....healthy and tasty too

Preety said...

such a healthy soup recipe gita..

Unknown said...

Healthy soup as its has both barley and spinach!

Yasmeen said...

Super good combo,can't get healthier than this:)

Neha said...

A perfect healthy soup, lovely color..

Subhie Arun said...

a perfect healthy soup...will try soon......