soup to heal the soul

This darn cold keeps flaring up & knocking me down! Either that or as soon as I get well, I'm catching something else. Today, I was out again & couldn't go help with the mock elections at the boys' school -totally bummed me out. You all know, I never miss a chance to get people involved in the political process!!! So, I decided to make a healing soup. Everyone always talks about the healing properties of chicken noodle soup but the secret lies in a good simmered vegetable soup. Below is the recipe I used & our soup came out perfect. In fact, I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow! YUM!!!!!

Vegetable Barley Soup:

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
Inner stalks and leaves of a head of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons oil *I used olive oil*
2 1/2 quarts good-quality vegetable broth or water
1 cup barley
1 bay leaf
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed and chopped *I used 3*
1 large can (30 ounces) tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
1 1/2 cups seasonal greens–kale, chard, collards–coarsely chopped *I used kale*
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt to taste

1. In a large soup pot, saute the onion and celery in oil until tender and starting to brown. Add broth or water and bring to a boil.

2. Rinse barley under running water and then add to boiling soup stock. Add bay leaf and simmer one hour, until barley is tender.

3. Add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and tomato juice to soup. Simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are very soft. Add more water if necessary.

4. Just before serving, add greens and basil, cooking until greens are just tender. Add salt to taste.