Mushroom Barley Soup

It's a snowy day in Philadelphia! Perfect day for a hearty soup. Barley always reminds me of my grandmother. Every New Year's Day she made the best beef barley soup and we watched the Mummers march up 2nd Street.

Mushrooms and barley are both excellent for your health. Barley is a super-food to feed the healthy bacteria in your intestines. Mushrooms have a long list of benefits ranging from fighting cancer to heart disease. You can read about them here.

Mushroom Barley Soup

1 onion, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

2 stalks of celery, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 TBS extra virgin olive oil

2 lg leaves of kale, remove stalk and dice, then roll leaves like a cigar and finely slice

1 c barley

2 c warm water

4 c vegetable or mushroom broth

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper

Mushrooms (I used about 10-15 Shiitake and 3 Morels. See NOTES below)

In a stock pot, combine olive oil with onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and saute over low to medium heat until the onions are translucent. 

Add barley, water, broth, bay leaves and kale. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about an hour. Remove bay leaves and taste soup to see if more salt and pepper are needed. If more salt is added, simmer an additional 10 minutes or so.

NOTES: I had to use dried Morels because my market only had Shiitake, Portabello and White mushrooms available fresh. If you use any dried mushrooms, soak them in the two cups of warm water for at least thirty minutes before dicing them. Don't discard the water! Add it to your soup. Additional broth or water can be added towards the end if soup is too thick.