Tomato-Basil with Barely Soup

With the cooler weather starting to move in I was in the mood for a soup! I have an excess of basil in my garden and after reading through the "Racing Weight Cookbook" I found a good way to put it to use.



Ingredients:
1 - Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
3 - Cloves Garlic, minced
4.5 - Cups of water
1/2 - Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 - Cup of Pearl Barley
2 - Cups of Spinach
1 - Tsp Salt
1/2 - Tsp Pepper
12 to 16 - fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:
Rinse the Barley and set a side.

Using a large sauce pan (or pot) pour in the olive oil and garlic. Saute for a minute or two until you can smell the aromas of the garlic.

Add the Barley and 4.5 cups of water. Strain in the juices from the diced tomatoes making sure to squeeze all the juice out that you can through the strainer.

Turn the heat to high until a boil starts then reduce to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes,

While simmering, dice up the tomatoes even finer.

Measure out and chop up your Spinach.

After 15 minutes of simmering the Barley should start to plump up a little bit.

Add the tomatoes and spinach.

Mix together, cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes it should start to look a little nicer.

Roughly chop your basil.



Add the basil, salt and pepper to the soup and cook for another 2 - 5 minutes.

Server with a garlic cheese bread.