Vegetable Barley Soup

This soup is soup-er easy. It's a great last-minute meal, because I tend you have all of these ingredients on hand.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 medium potato, diced
1 can corn (or frozen)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles (with juices)
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup barley
salt and pepper to taste

Saute veggies in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add corn, tomatoes, broth and barley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until potatoes and barley are cooked. Salt and pepper to taste. The green chiles in the diced tomatoes give it a nice kick if you like a little spice.

Jimmie grilled a small steak, diced it up and quickly made it a Beef, Barley & Veggie soup. Yum.

Serve with homemade foccacia.