Wednesday 17 November 2010

Spinach and Barley Soup

So I got round to trying Sophie Dahl's Spinach and Barley Soup. I've got a bit of a thing for soup at the moment. This one's very cheap and easy to make, and super good for you. If I'm being honest it's not the most exciting soup I've had, but it's certainly very virtuous!

You're gonna feel so smug when you see the amount of spinach that goes into this...

(To serve 4-6)

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Add 1 chopped onion and 2 fresh sage leaves (I only had dried sage so used just over a teaspoon). Cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes.

Stir in 180g of washed and chopped spinach leaves, and cook for another few minutes.


Pour in 1.5 litres of organic vegetable stock. This is where the recipe states to simmer the spinach in the stock for 10 minutes before adding the barley. I didn't do this, however, as otherwise you just boil all the nutrients out of the spinach!
Add 150g pearl barley, bring to the boil, then simmer for half an hour or until the barley is soft.
Season to taste.
Ladle into bowls and serve with reshly grated parmesan. Easy.


Miss P's Top Tip: Next time I would try leaving the spinach leaves whole, to add a bit more texture to the finished soup.


3 comments:

  1. What a great healthy soup! I cooked it last night with the whole leaves, worked a treat. Although, I'm trying to think of something to add a little more depth to it as it was rather 'stocky'.

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  2. Glad you liked it! I know what you mean though, it's not the most substantial soup. Let me know if you try anything that works well! x

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  3. Tried it again tonight this time added garlic, fresh thyme, flat leaf parsley and a bay leaf to the onions. Also grated a bit of nutmeg after the stock. So much better. Give it a try!

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