Winter Barley Minestrone with white beans / carrots / turnips
A bowl of vegetable-packed minestrone is the perfect cozy meal for cold winter months. This one gets a seasonal twist with root vegetables and cooked barley leftover from Tuesday.
Smarts #1: Miso paste gives this soup a rich, savory flavor. This Japanese ingredient doesn't only add flavor to Asian recipes - it's a great "secret" ingredient to stir into soups.
Smarts #2: This recipe could be made in the Instant Pot. For tips, join the Cook Smarts Instant Pot Facebook Group.
Ingredients
- Onions, medium - 1, chopped
- Carrots - 12 oz, chopped
- Turnips - 6 oz, chopped (sub rutabaga or potatoes)
- Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
- Green onions - 2 stalks, chopped, green and white parts separate
- Beans, cannellini or other white (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can, drained and rinsed
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Miso paste - 1 Tbsp
- Oregano, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Thyme, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Stock, any type - 5 cups
- Tomatoes, petite diced (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can
- Bay leaves - 1
- Cooked Pearl Barley (leftover from Tuesday) - 1 cup
- Lemon juice - 2 tsp
- Parmesan cheese (opt) - 1 oz, grated
Nutrition Facts
Prep
Make
- Heat a Dutch oven with oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and turnips to heated oil with some salt. Saute until onions are starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add white parts of green onions, garlic, miso, oregano, and thyme. Saute until spices are fragrant, ~2 minutes.
- Add stock, tomatoes (including liquid), and bay leaves to pan. Bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer until turnips are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove lid and stir in cooked barley and beans. Continue cooking until everything is heated through.
- Stir lemon juice into soup and season with some salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Top with green parts of green onions and some parmesan cheese, if you’d like. Enjoy!
Reviews
This meal has 47 reviews
I really liked the flavor of this soup. I used soy sauce in place of the miso and a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles because that's what I had on hand. It gave the soup a little bit of heat which I liked.
This was very good and flavorful. I enjoyed it true to the recipe the first go round and added some andouille sausage for extra protein when we had the leftovers.
This was pretty good. I'm glad I made extra to freeze. I subbed potatoes for turnips because that's what I had in this week's CSA box.
I liked this, but wasn't wowed by it. The miso paste was a good addition, but overall it was a little bland for me.
It was alright.
Really good considering I am not the biggest fan of tomato-based soups. The miso, mushroom, and turnips made it very interesting. I made 8 portions so lots of leftovers and very freezer-friendly.