Lunch: Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup

Barley is amazingly absorbent, so be sure to adjust the amount of liquid you use if you're setting your slow cooker to high for this recipe. It also freezes well: For this soup, prepare without the greens, and then add them at the end when re-heating.

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Barley

Health and fertility benefits of Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup

Barley is about the best grain a woman with PCOS can eat. It is low in calories and has the lowest GI of all grains. Low-GI grains such as barley take much longer to digest and create a slow, steady rise in blood glucose and insulin levels. As mentioned before on Fertility Chef, low-GI foods reduce cravings. If possible, try and find hulled barley as it is the most nutrient dense of all types of barley.

Ingredients

8 sprig fresh thyme
2 medium parsnips
2 stalk celery
2 clove garlic
1 large onion
1 small rutabaga
1/2 c. barley (not quickcooking)
kosher salt
Pepper
1 small bunch Swiss chard
shaved Parmesan

Instructions

Tie the thyme together with a piece of thread or butcher's twine. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the parsnips, celery, garlic, onion, rutabaga, thyme, barley, 8 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Cook, covered, until the barley is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, 6 to 7 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high (if cooking on high, use only 6 cups of water).
When the soup has 10 minutes left to cook, remove the thyme. If the slow cooker is on the low setting, turn it to high. Add the chard and cook, covered, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve with Parmesan, if desired.

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