Three Mushroom Barley Soup

I have a lot of barley in my pantry, no doubt the result of poor inventory procedures… So I’m making some more soup.  It has gotten quite cold, quite fast here, and soup will warm my hands and belly.  Like a lot of people, I grew up on Campbell’s soup, occasionally we’d get Progresso, if my parents (who went food shopping together back in the 70’s) felt frivolous, and that became my standard for good soup.  I will say, that even now, for canned soup, Progresso is still the best I’ve found, but nothing can beat homemade.  Good soup is not hard to make, especially with the quality of broths and stocks you can get.  Though it’s not hard to make stock, it’s not something most people have time for, and if you do I salute you!  

Making your own soup means making it to your personal preference.  If you’ve never made soup, or are feeling a bit cautious, by all means use a recipe, (I have several on this site) but there’s no reason to stick to it rigidly as you would if you were baking a cake.  Do you like your vegetables tiny, go ahead and chop them as small as you want, or leave them chunky.  You can make substitutions of like items, or add and omit to suit your palate.  I like carrots, so there are carrots in most of my soup recipes, even split pea, which, honestly, is prettier without the carrots, as when you puree it the carrots turn the green mixture a bit yellow-orange-ish. 

Barley is a great grain for soup.  It adds body, and thickens the broth making any barley soup hearty.  It’s also super versatile, and goes with beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, vegetables, mushrooms (let’s skirt the mushrooms as vegetables debate), lentils, with or without tomatoes, and I have even seen it with fish. It is purported to have tons of health benefits for pretty much everyone, though it does contain gluten.  You can also use it as a substitute for rice and cook it pilaf style with or without vegetables. (Look for this recipe soon, I still have plenty of barley).

Barley is one of the ancient grains still in cultivation today.  It has been found in its domesticated form as far back as 7,000-8,000 BC throughout the Middle East.  It has been used to make beer, wine, cereal and used in its grain form, as well as being widely used to feed animals.  If you’re new to barley, I encourage you to try it, it is nutritionally similar to quinoa, and a good alternative to pasta and white rice, and is very kid-friendly!

Three Mushroom Barley Soup

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Ingredients

• 1/2 Large Spanish Onion (chopped into 1/2)
• 1lb Carrots (sliced lengthwise into quarters and chopped)
• 4 stalks Celery (Sliced in half lengthwise and chopped into 1/4)
• 6 cups Vegetable or Beef Stock
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Dill
• 1 tablespoon Olive or other oil
• 1/2 cup Barley
• 1 Large Russet Potato (Chopped into 1/2)
• 8oz White Muchrooms (wiped clean and sliced thin)
• 8oz Cremini Mushrooms (Wiped clean and sliced thin)
• 4oz Shiitake Mushrooms (Stems removed and sliced thin)

Directions

Step 1

In a large soup pot, heat pol over medium heat

Step 2

When Oil is hot, add onions and stir well, let saute for 3 minutes

Step 3

Add Carrots and Celery, stir well, lower heat and cover and let vegetables sweat for 2-3 minutes

Step 4

Add mushroom to pot, stir well and replace cover, and sweat an additional five minutes, stirring once or twice

Step 5

Add potatoes, broth, and herbs, and bring to boil over medium-high heat

Step 6

When broth starts to boil, add barley, stir well, and lower heat to simmer

Step 7

Cover and let simmer for one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes (or so) After one hour taste to make sure barley is tender, if not cook another fifteen minutes

Step 8

Taste broth for seasoning