Roasted Tomato, White Bean, and Barley Soup

For those of you who are unaware, it has been stinkin' cold in Dallas the past- WAY TOO LONG! Our week started off with snow- beautiful, white, crisp, light, glowing, (i can't say enough) snow. As I walked into work on Monday morning, my breath escaped me as I stopped in awe of God's beauty through something so seemingly simple yet when really thought about, extremely complex. I don't see snow often but when I do, I am always reminded of how creative God is. I love it.
The day went on and "the white stuff" went away...the rest of the week? Cold enough too snow but nothing produced. Freezing, stinking FREEZING weather. Don't worry, this post isn't a complaining post, I'm only informing you to set up the scene for the imperative recipe that was ironically schedule to be made almost a month ago! : )
Roasted Tomato, White Bean, and Barley Soup. I couldn't tell you if this soup was truly good because as I oooed and awed over it my mind couldn't get past the warmth it made my body feel to really decide whether or not the soup actually tasted good! Thankfully my husband was able to get past the warmth and compliment me on how good it was.

Roasted Tomato, White Bean, and Barley Soup
(especially good for those biting cold winter days)

Ingredients:
1 cup pearl barley cooked in 3 cups water for about 50 minutes
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, trimmed and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 cups diced fire roasted tomatoes (1 15-ounce can) (I used Muir Glen- Fire Roasted with Green Chilies)
4 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (I'm sure would be fine without if you don't want to buy just for this recipe!)
2 cups cooked white beans,
1 tablespoon soy sauce
salt, pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Directions:
1. Cook the barley and set aside.
2. Heat a little bit of oil in a roomy, thick-bottomed soup pot, add the onions and sauté on medium-high heat 3-4 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and garlic and sauté another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, nutritional yeast and 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock and bring just to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer half an hour or until the vegetables are fully tender.
4. Add the beans and barley and simmer 4-5 minutes. (The short time is imperative unless you want thick, non-soupy soup- the barley soaks up all that broth if cooked too long)
5. Just before serving, stir in the parsley, reserving a tablespoon for the garnish. Yields six generous servings.
*Recipe originally from Macro Chef but tweaked quite a bit!

As we sat and ate the first serving of this soup, I pulled out my laptop to look up the health benefits of barley. I was extremely surprised at the fiber content in barley!! It passes up oatmeal, raspberries, rye (the commonly known fibrous foods) check out the chart below on grams per serving. The website i found this on is so informative, if your interested to know more about the health benefits of barley (or ANY FOOD) check it out- WHFoods

Oatmeal, 1 cup 3.98g
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice 2g
Whole wheat spaghetti, 1 cup 6.3g
Brown rice, 1 cup 3.5g
Barley, 1 cup 13.6g
Buckwheat, 1 cup 4.54g
Rye, 1/3 cup 8.22g
Corn, 1 cup 4.6g
Apple, 1 medium with skin 5.0g
Banana, 1 medium 4.0g
Blueberries, 1 cup 3.92g
Orange, 1 large 4.42g
Pear, 1 large 5.02g
Prunes, 1/4 cup 3.02g
Strawberries, 1 cup 3.82g
Raspberries, 1 cup 8.36g

Of course, Patricks only comment to this is- "Great, we are going to the symphony tonight and I just ate a bowl full of the fartiest food out there!"