Organic Vegetable and Barley Soup

I recently joined a produce delivery service called Misfits Market. They join organic farmers who would have to throw away perfectly good produce that is too "ugly" for the supermarket shelves, and offer them in a box, delivered directly to your door for a discounted price, brilliant!! I got the small box, including shipping, for $23.50, 10-12 pounds worth. I was so excited when I opened this box and after pondering for a day I decided to make soup. I chopped up and sauteed in a little bit of oil and butter, the smaller onion, the leek, the green beans, and 5 ribs of celery with the leaves and a nice size parsnip from my fridge. I cooked it for about 5 minutes and added a small can of diced tomatoes, a box of chicken stock and then filled the pot up with water. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and Goya Adobo. I simmered it until the veggies were soft, but not mushy, and added 1 cup of pearled barley. When the barley was soft I sliced up the rainbow chard, including the ribs and beautiful stems, added them to the pot.

Look at beautiful colors of these fantastic, organic veggies that were going to get thrown away, I am happy to receive them!! I cooked the soup for another 2 minutes, tasted it, and re seasoned it if it needed. This was one of the most delicious soups I have ever made!!

*you can really taste the difference between mass produced vs. organic fruits and vegetables

**you could probably add any kind of protein to make this heartier

***leave out the chicken stock and butter, add tofu and it's vegan

****https://www.misfitsmarket.com/