Vegetable Barley Soup

Nothing like a good bowl of soup! This soup is an inspiration from in a dish I made with Anna up in Connecticut one time. With black-eyed peas and barley, it is a hearty meal. Especially with some delicious garlic bread! We love the convenience of garlic-infused olive oil. Yum! Craig had gotten some bread from a Jamaican bakery, so he had that while I had my millet bread. End it all with a slice of sweet potato pie and enjoy the last days of winter food!

Vegetable Barley Soup

1/2 cup dried black-eyed peas
2-3 inch piece kombu
2/3 cup barley
32 oz vegetable broth
5 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion, diced
whatever veggies you have on hand - I used cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, celery, and some left over sweet potato from the pie. Amount? Depends how much veggies you want! I probably had over 3 cups worth total.
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 - 3/4 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 handfuls of nutritional yeast

Put black-eyed peas in pressure cooker with kombu and 2 cups of water. Once it starts steaming, cook for 6-8 minutes. They don't need to be cooked all the way since they will have a chance to cook some more as you add the other ingredients. Discard kombu if it is starting to disintegrate....or chop up into small pieces and leave in soup.
Add vegetable broth and barley. Let cook for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and onion. Cook another five minutes. Add the rest of the veggies, except tomatoes, and the spices. Cook another 5-7 minutes. As barley cooks, you may need to add some more water if you want more broth. Depending on the veggies you use, you may need to cook it a little longer, but don't worry about getting them too soft as they will continue to cook as the soup cools.
This made a pretty good amount of soup! I'd say enough for five or six people probably. Also, I had some for breakfast and noticed that the barley seemed to have soaked up some more of the broth. So if you're reheating, you may need to add some more water or broth.