Vegetable Barley Soup

I asked my husband if he'd like soup this week. He responded "I like soup." But when I showed him various recipes, the feedback I got ranged from the specific ("I don't like tomatoes in my soup") to the vague ("That's not what I had in mind"). Finally he asked for "something with barely in it." Okay, that I can work with. A quick search on food.com (formerly recipezaar) got me to this recipe. He was worried that it wouldn't have enough flavor, but I held strong. In the end, as usual, I was right. You will have leftovers (hooray!), but as the days go by the chunks will melt and the soup will become even creamier. It freezes very well.

Ingredients:
4 carrots (1 grated, 3 chopped)
1 onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 potatoes, chopped (I used 4, because they were small and who doesn't love little potato bits in their soup?)
2 sweet potatoes, choped
2 zucchini, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup barley
1/2 cup split peas (I used yellow)
1/2 cup red lentil
dill, to taste
parsley, to taste
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste



Directions:
1. Soak split peas until partially soft, or boil
2. Saute onion, garlic and grated carrot (I added some olive oil for this step even though it was not in the ingredients or directions.)
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and cover with water.
4. Cook for at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

I think it would work with any number of vegetable combinations would work. Next time I'm going to add some cut green beans.

If you have young children, feel free to serve this soup while singing Raffi's "Oats and Beans and Barely Grow."