Vegetable Soup with Barley

Brothy and chock full of complex carbohydrates, Vegetable Soup with Barley makes for a comforting and yummy-in-your-tummy lunch or dinner. It’s also great to serve family and friends who are omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans.

Or, just hungry.

What makes a soup vegan?

Vegan Soup Recipes

Not all vegetarian soups are vegan. You may remember our previous discussion about veganism being a subset of vegetarianism. It excludes animal-derived proteins and products, so no meat, eggs, or dairy products like butter and cheese.

If you are a regular soup-maker, you may immediately think of three potential issues with vegan soup recipes: roux, creaminess, and protein source. However, I assure you there is no cause for alarm. These can all be made vegan without too much upset.

• Roux is the butter and flour combo that gets cooked together and to which broth is added. It is used to thicken gravies, sauces, and soups like bisques and chowders. Because roux requires equal amounts of fat and flour it is easy to swap out butter and use olive oil or coconut oil instead.
• Creamy soups often contain milk, cheese, or another dairy to achieve maximum creaminess. But alternatives like coconut milk, pureed vegetables, and nut butter bring a velvety lusciousness to soups.
• For a dose of non-animal protein, look to beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas, or tofu as easy adds to your bowl of bliss.

Other protein sources? Whole grains.

Barley

Barley is a cereal grain that is grown all over the world and is a staple in many cultures. It’s mild and slightly nutty, like most childhood best friends. While it doesn’t contain as much protein as kamut or quinoa, barley is still a good source of plant-based protein that also provides fiber, minerals, and vitamins.

There are two types of barley: hulled and pearl. The difference? Hulled barley is a whole grain with just the outer husk removed while pearl barley is technically not a whole grain because the outer husk and bran layer have been removed.

This soup contains pearl barley, which is easier to find in grocery stores and cooks more quickly than hulled. Use hulled barley if you’d prefer, just be sure to adjust cooking times.

Lessons Learned

• Don’t be afraid of the rutabagas in the soup. They aren’t as common as other vegetables and you may have never had them before but they are worth trying. The taste: a cross between potato and carrot.
• This is a great clean-out-your-fridge kind of soup. Sub in other veggies for the ones listed here.
• If you are making this soup a day ahead, cook the barley but don't add it to the soup until just before serving. Barley continues to absorb water and will suck up all the broth in your soup if you leave it overnight. To store leftover soup, separate the solids from the broth (I know, kind of a pain) otherwise prepare to be okay with whatever you get the next day.

Hat Tips

Many thanks to Recipe Tin Eats for the pearl barley soup recipe and Robert Bye on Unsplash for the cattle photo.

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