Toasted Barley Minestrone

This soup was delcious and loaded with fiber! It is a great meatless option and you do not miss the meat one bit. The recipe is from Good Housekeeping. Notes 1) Don't skip the pesto. It adds a lot of flavor and the soup would just kind of be so-so without it. 2)Don't be scared by the cabbage. After the meal, my husband was busing dishes (yes, he's a keeper 'eh?) when he spotted the leftover cabbage on the counter and said "This had cabbage in it?" 3) The recipe for the pesto calls for Romano cheese. I used good-quality Paremesan and it was delicious. If you still have a green bottle of Kraft Paremesan in your pantry please stop reading this blog, get up, go to your kitchen and throw it away. Thank you. You can buy inexpensive good-quality Parmesan at Trader Joe's. 4) The pesto recipe says to blend it up in a mini-processor. I used my regular blender. I had to poke the leaves around a few times, but we got there. Instead of stirring this in to each individual bowl, just stir it into the whole pot before serving. That way the pesto doesn't get all used up at meal time and leave the leftovers naked. Let me know what you think!