Hearty & Healthy Lentil and Barley Soup

When you've cooked a healthy, vegetable-filled soup for dinner, and your 17-year-old, junk-food-loving son says, 
     "Mom, have I told you that this is my favorite soup? Can I have some more?" 
Then you KNOW that you've found a winning recipe! It doesn't get much better than that! 

I found this recipe originally in the Lean & Free 2000 Plus cookbook. I only altered it slightly. If you can't find pearled barley in the rice section of your local grocery store, it should be available in the bulk foods section of stores such as Fred Meyer or Winco. Take a few minutes to chop your vegetables in the morning, put all ingredients in the crockpot on LOW, and the delicious soup will be ready to eat by dinnertime.

I use my amazing Cuisinart food processor to pulse-chop the veggies

Lentil and Barley Soup

Yields: 6-8 servings

1 c     Dried lentils (any type)
1 c     Pearled barley (or other whole-grain barley)
1 can Petite diced tomatoes (about 16 oz.)
1 c     Chopped onion
1 c     Chopped or sliced celery
3/4 c  Chopped or sliced carrots
2 TB  Soy sauce
1/2 ts Pepper
1 ts    Dried dill weed
1 ts    Garlic powder
10 c   Chicken broth or bouillon

Place all ingredients in a 5-quart slow cooker or crockpot. Set covered crockpot to LOW and leave it to cook all day, 8-10 hours, until vegetables, grain and lentils are tender. Serve warm. Season individual bowls of soup with Tabasco sauce, to taste (optional), and garnish them with freshly-chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley (optional).

Note: The soup could also be cooked in a large saucepan or 5-quart stockpot on the stove top. It would need to simmer for about an hour.