Heart Healthy Ham Barley Vegetable Soup

We are just finishing all the leftovers from Little Miss Melody's Birthday Party.  The only thing still left is the ham so I made a heart healthy soup that we enjoyed for lunch today.  The rest of the ham and the second ham bone are going into the freezer for another time.

I knew I wanted to make a soup with the ham bone I had but I didn't have any split peas on hand and we had just had chili so I didn't really want more beans.  I looked in the cupboard and found some pearl barley.  Along with the ham in the refrigerator were a lot of veggies that needed using before I go back to the CSA this afternoon and load up again.  I had some lima beans, celery and zucchini.  I was out of carrots and onions but I did have some shallots.  I am very pleased with how the soup turned out.  It made the perfect lunch for us today and all those veggies are not only filling but good for your heart as well.

Ham Vegetable Barley Soup

1 meaty ham bone
8 c. chicken broth, homemade or canned
2 large red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with their juices
2 shallots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 c. shelled lima beans
1 c. pearl barley
1 T. oregano paste
1 med zucchini, seeded and chopped
Pepper to taste

Place the ham bone and broth into a large soup pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat to med and allow to cook for 20-30 minutes.  Add the vegetables, except zucchini, barley and oregano.  Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for an hour, until vegetables and barley are tender.  Remove ham bone from soup.  Cut meat off bones and coarsely chop.  Return meat to pot with the zucchini and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until zucchini is tender.  Taste and season with pepper.  Soup should be salty enough from the ham.  Print Recipe