Roasted Tomato and Barley Soup

I'm on the mend from a NASTY cold!  Yesterday was the first day in a week that I started feeling human again.  On Sunday I was the WORST...I couldn't breathe through my nose, my ears hurt, my throat was raw...in short I just wanted to sit down and cry and not be sick anymore.  Instead, I behaved like the 30 year old that I am and made myself some soup.  Amazing how age changes things!  I was really afraid that I was going to go through all of this work and not even be able to taste the soup because of the cold, but I made it anyway.  It was SO YUMMY and I think it's part of the reason I'm feeling so much better!  Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs plum tomatoes, cut in half and seeded (about 8-10 tomatoes)
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. snipped fresh basil leaves
• 3 cans (14.5 oz ea) 99% fat free chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. tomato juice
• 2/3 c. quick-cooking barley, uncooked (I found mine at the Good Food Store)
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.  Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and remove seeds.  Place tomatoes and oil in large bowl and toss to coat.
2. Line pan with a 17" piece of parchment paper (I totally skipped this part and it didn't make a bit of difference except maybe the clean up was a little more intense...up to you!).  Arrange tomatoes, cut side up, in single layer over bottom of pan; bake 45 minutes or until tomatoes start to shrivel.  Remove from oven; cool slightly.
3. Remove skins from tomatoes (so this might be TMI but the tomatoes were really hot and the skins weren't coming off...finally I had to improvise.  I used TWEEZERS to get the skins off.  Might help!)  Return tomatoes to large bowl.  Using kitchen shears snip tomatoes into small pieces.  Also snip basil and set aside.
4. In large pot combine tomatoes, broth, tomato juice, barley, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir basil into soup just before serving.