GREEK BARLEY SOUP

1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley or unhulled barley
8 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt
½ cup fresh cilantro (optional)
salt
pepper (optional)

The barley needs to be soaked overnight. Then drained before cooking
time.

In a large pot on med heat, sauté the onions and garlic in oil until
tender, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, barley, cumin and turmeric. Bring
to a boil then reduce heat to med low. Simmer for abt 1 hr, or until the
barley is tender. The water shld be reduced to half, which is what you
want. About 4 or 5 cups of broth in the remaining product. Stir in
yogurt/sour cream, cilantro, chickpeas and salt to taste.

To make the broth, I simply pour in 8 cups of water and 2 cubes of good
quality broth cubes. I prefer mine to be organic. The result is a
cleaner, heartier broth. The sour cream or yogurt marries the turmeric
and cumin. What I like abt this soup is 1, its so healthy, 2 really
cheap, and 3, the flavor tastes like a stew that's been on the stove all
day.

To find barley, go to your local specialty store and ask for barley in
the bulk section. The pearl barley is hulled, which means the tougher,
more nutritious layer has been stripped off. Its also cheaper. But I
prefer the unhulled barley for it's added nutrition.


I apologize for the blurry pictures. I can't find my real camera right now, so these were taken with my sidekick. The picture below is what unhulled barley -somewhat- looks like.