Vegetable barley soup

This hearty, low-calorie vegetable barley soup is dairy free with a vegan option. It's so easy and quick to make when you are a little tired and just want to curl up with a bowl of something warming.

Serves: 6
Time to make: 45 mins

Total cost: $ 16.26 / $ 2.71 per serve

(at time of publication)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large stalk celery, sliced
200g mushrooms, sliced
400g can chickpeagarbanzoXsgarbanzosX, drained and rinsed
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups reduced-salt vegetable stock (plus 2 cups water)
1 cup green beans, roughly chopped
1 cup green peas, defrosted if frozen
1 cup corn sweetcornXkernels, defrosted if frozen
½ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped, plus extra to serve
ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery and mushrooms and cook until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.
Increase heat, add next 6 ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat again and simmer until the barley is tender, about 30 minutes. If you notice that the soup needs more liquid, add more water, ½ cup at a time.
Mix in beans, peas and corn and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove bay leaf from the soup, stir in parsley and season.
Divide soup among 6 bowls. Scatter over remaining parsley and serve.