BARLEY AND MUSHROOM SOUP

Barley is one of my favorite ingredients to use in soups.   Many of the soup recipes featured in my blog include barley.  Barley is a high fiber, complex carbohydrate.  I use pearl barley in soups as it cooks faster than regular barley.  Pearl barley is hulled barley with the bran removed.  My choice to make barley and mushroom soup was thought of while shopping at Costco, I bought a large package of sliced mushrooms thinking that I would use a portion of the package for making soup.  I kept this recipe simple in terms of adding additional vegetables.  You can also add some chopped broccoli, zucchini or cauliflower if you want to make this soup more of a vegetable soup.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
8 cups of chicken, beef or vegetable broth or water
2 medium size potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 medium size carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup pearl barley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
fresh ground pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh parsley
2 tbsp fresh dill or 1 tsp dried dill

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oil on medium heat in a large pot.  Add onions, celery and garlic and saute for about 4 minutes until softened.  Add the mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes on medium low heat.  Add the remaining ingredients except for the salt, parsley and dill.  Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer, covered with the lid for about an hour. If the soup is too thick, add a bit of water.  Add the salt, parsley and dill.  Makes about 8 to 10 servings.