Tomato, Zucchini & Barley Soup

Whether you shop at a run-of-the-mill grocery store, a Whole Foods, a farmer’s market or get your produce from your own garden, I am pretty sure tomatoes and zucchini are everywhere. And at an exceptionally cheap price. Now’s the time of the year where I start making massive amounts of zucchini bread and tomato sauce because I’ve got so much of both of them I don’t know what to do with them. This week though, I also had a lot of veggie broth, and killed two birds with one stone (not a very vegan quote) and made a simple soup with them all.

This makes a lot of soup and considering the cost of the ingredients right now it should only cost you a few bucks-thrifty! 🙂

5 cups veggie broth

3 cups sliced zucchini

2 cups chopped tomatoes

2 cups cooked pearled barley

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cayenne pepper, minced

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Saute onions and cayenne pepper in olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add zucchini and garlic and cook for 2 more minutes
• Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil
• Boil for 5 minutes until tomatoes are tender and then remove from heat