Barley Vegetable Soup

Here's a very basic (and of course, very cheap) vegetable soup.  You can use whatever vegetables you can get on sale but I usually stick with the same ones, sale or not;  they're usually cheap enough they won't break the bank at any rate.

I usually go with one extravagance when I make brothy soup: prepared veggie broth.  The brand I get is available at Aldi's for 1.89 per 1 qt carton and I use 2, and this is the most expensive ingredient at 3.80.  The reason I go with prepped broth is consistency.  For just about everything else I usually just use my broth made from veg prep scraps, recipe available here.   The scrap version can be very oniony, or carroty, or celery-y, depending on what trimmings I have in the freezer, so for brothy soups, I go with prepared.   The scraps from the prep for this soup will also go into the freezer for future stock, unlike my Cucalenco soup.  Also I save the salting of the soup for when it's done.  Usually salt will lose some of its "presence" when you add it at the beginning, so when you save it for the end, you don't have to use quite as much to the get the same saltiness.

1 cup barley, hull-less is preferred but pearled or scotch (better) is fine if that's all you can get..     
2 quarts of commercial vegetable broth (3.60)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3 small or 2 medium carrots, sliced in 1/4 inch slices; any slices bigger than a nickel I usually cut in half moons. (0.25)
1 medium yellow or white onion, diced.   ).25)
2 cloves minced garlic (.10)
2 ribs of celery diced. (.25)
1/2 to 1 pound of fresh green beans, topped and tailed and snapped into 2 inch pieces (You can use a bag of frozen if you wish to save money) (0.99)
1 medium large turnip, cut in small dice (0.90)
1/2 small to medium head of cabbage, chopped very thin.
1 can of petite cut diced tomatoes, fire-roasted if you can get them.  The soup won't be ruined if you can't but in that case, maybe add a drop or two of liquid smoke.
1 teaspoon each of thyme, savory, basil, and dill.
3/4 cup of finely diced seitan (optional if you have concerns about protein content; if you can't get seitan, use a cup of pureed white, pinto, or black beans)
Salt and pepper to taste.

First things first:  Rinse the barley and place it in a medium saucepan and add 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer till tender and kind of fluffy looking (about a half hour).  You'll probably have to skim some "scum" from the surface (don't worry; it's just some surface starch)

In the meantime, put the onions, carrot, celery, and green beans (if using fresh)  into a pot (or your Instant Pot) and dry saute over medium heat (hit the saute button on the I-Pot), till the onions are translucent.  Add a splash of water any time things start to stick.  Add the garlic and continue to saute for another minute.  Add in the broth, soy sauce, turnip, cabbage, diced tomatoes, the barley (with it's cooking water) and the herbs except the dill  (and the green beans if using frozen).  At this point add the seitan or or pureed beans if using.  On the stove-top, bring to a boil and lower heat and simmer until all the vegetables are soft to your liking.  If you wish, you may add another diced rib of celery about 5 minutes before you take the soup off the heat, if you like some crunch.  On the I-Pot, hit the "manual/pressure cook" button and set for 12 minutes and  NPR for 5 minutes (while in warm-up mode) and then quick release the rest.

Add the dill and season to your liking with salt and pepper, and maybe some hot sauce.  I usually add a pinch of turmeric at this point as well, both for a little color and the anti-inflammatory properties of the turmeric.

If you're following the McDougall Starch Solution program (or even if you're not!), feel free to add a cup of frozen corn, frozen peas, or a diced potato.

The whole recipe is about 9 dollars;  however 40% of that 9 dollars is the commercial broth.  If you make your own broth from veggie scraps, or even use one of those bouillon pastes that come in a jar, it's probably around 6.50 or 7 dollars for the pot, which brings the cost down to under a dollar per serving.