Advice needed , soups with pearl barley, lentils mix. How to do?

[anneke1]

I have a soup mix from Waitrose which contains pearl barley, lentils beans and other goodies. However I have not used these before and not sure how to cook. Instructions say soak overnight etc which is fine question is do I cook mix seperately then add to soap or add mixture to soap while cooking. Sorry if basic question but really want to get my head around this ingredient as a cheap and nutritious alternative to meat.

my mum and my dh add it to the soup and cook it in with the rest of the ingredients

I add pearl barley to soups and stews. It is yum. Have never soaked overnight but always cooked mine for a long time, with plenty of fluid as they are thirsty. Enjoy!

If it just has lentils, barley and and split peas in it, then you don't need to soak over night. It will take about an hour and plenty stock to cook. If it has beans or marrowfat peas in the mix, you will need to soak overnight or else cook for a VERY long time. traditional broth mix does need soaked overnight and anything with beans. Soaking, draining and rinsing also helps get rid of some of the stuff in beans that causes wind.