Italian bean & barley soup with escarole
3
Points®
Total Time
40 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Serves
2
Difficulty
Easy
This hearty soup gets heft and wonderful texture from the combination of beans and barley. Escarole, a slightly bitter leafy green that’s related to endive and frisée, is usually sold in bunches near the lettuce in the produce section. In fact, it looks like a head of lettuce with short, wide leaves. The outer leaves are darker green and more bitter, while the interior leave are light yellow and more tender. Cannellini beans typically come in cans that yield about 1 1/2 cups. You'll have about 1 cup leftover after making this recipe; they'll keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. Add the leftovers to a soup or salad or use them to make a hearty pasta dish.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
1 spray(s)
Uncooked onion
¾ cup(s), chopped, yellow, diced
Garlic
5 clove(s), thinly sliced
Celery
1 rib(s), medium, diced
Carrots
1 medium, peeled and diced
Plum tomato
2 medium, diced
Low sodium vegetable broth
4 cup(s)
Uncooked pearl barley
¼ cup(s), quick-cooking variety
Italian seasoning
1 tsp
Table salt
¼ tsp, or to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 pinch(es), or to taste
Canned cannellini beans
½ cup(s), rinsed and drained
Escarole
6 oz, half a head, rinsed and torn into pieces
