Leftover Soup

Here's a quick and healthy soup recipe. You can use the basic recipe or add all kinds of leftovers.
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
1 cup barley, rinsed
1 14.5-oz can low-sodium diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon each dried oregano, basil, black pepper
1 cup water
plus leftovers (see below)

Begin by sautéing some vegetables:
Heat oil in a heavy pot on medium high and sauté onion for 4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add carrot and celery and sauté 2-3 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until barley is tender, about 35-40 minutes.

10 minutes before completion, add leftovers, heat through and serve.

As you can see, I added a leftover chicken breast (diced before it went into the soup) and some garbanzo beans. Other suggestions include any cooked lean meat or low-fat sausage, two cups fresh or cooked veggies. You might have something yummy tucked into the freezer that you could add to the soup--the possibilities are really pretty unlimited.

Sorry...I forgot to take a photo of the finished product! But it was yummy. Many servings for just the two of us--we ate it for leftovers at lunch and suppers for several days...but it was good every time! By the 2nd or 3rd day it was getting pretty thick, so I added some more chicken broth then.

Nutrition info: per serving, based on the recipe before adding leftovers: 192 calories, 9g protein, 33g carbohydrate, 4g fat, 1g sat fat, 2g mono fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 8g fiber, 99g sodium.

This recipe comes from the "Northwest Guide to Heart-Healthy Living" from Providence Heart and Vascular Institute.