Mushroom, Black and White Barley, Vegetable Soup
Blue Heron Kitchen
This soup feeds a crowd (It yields about 4-5 quarts of soup), but here’s the good news: if you’re cooking for yourself, it’s going to work for you. Portion it, freeze it, and when you come home after a long day and it’s been dark outside since, like 3:00 and all you can think of is another bowl of yogurt or cereal or a can of minestrone for dinner, you can eat dinner not from a can or a box. Heating this up is fast, healthful and lends itself to variations. Throw in some whole wheat pasta or some cooked beans. Cut up some cooked chicken sausage or add some meat, like turkey, chicken or pork. Grate some Parmesan cheese over it. It’s fat-free, fiber-rich and like most of the soups I’ve been making, it has lots of kale. I love kale.
I'm a stock cheater. I use the organic soup bases called Better Than Bouillon. It’s a product from Canada that you can buy at places like Fairway markets, Whole Foods and other ‘better’ markets. You can also order it on Amazon. It tends to be somewhat sodium-packed. So, you needn’t worry about adding salt to your soup. I use less of this base than the label calls for. I like to taste the vegetables. For this soup, I used the organic beef base. But, you can use the organic vegetable base if you’re a vegetarian. They used to make an organic mushroom base that was out of this world, but they stopped making it because I was probably the only person who bought it. Of course, you can use your own stock. But I didn’t feel like starting with beef bones and all that. This is an alternative to Health Valley canned soup, not a suggested soup course for your annual “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” party.
I'm a stock cheater. I use the organic soup bases called Better Than Bouillon. It’s a product from Canada that you can buy at places like Fairway markets, Whole Foods and other ‘better’ markets. You can also order it on Amazon. It tends to be somewhat sodium-packed. So, you needn’t worry about adding salt to your soup. I use less of this base than the label calls for. I like to taste the vegetables. For this soup, I used the organic beef base. But, you can use the organic vegetable base if you’re a vegetarian. They used to make an organic mushroom base that was out of this world, but they stopped making it because I was probably the only person who bought it. Of course, you can use your own stock. But I didn’t feel like starting with beef bones and all that. This is an alternative to Health Valley canned soup, not a suggested soup course for your annual “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” party.
I bought black barley at Fairway. You can probably find it at a good health food store. It’s available at Amazon. If you can’t find it, use regular barley. Try Bob’s Red Mill unhulled barley. It has more fiber.
Equipment: A large stockpot,
Time: At least four hours for cooking
Ingredients:
3 Quarts filtered water
3 Tbsp. Better Than Bouillon Organic Beef Bouillon
¼ cup black barley
¼ cup white pearl barley, Bob’s Red Mill sells both hulled and unhulled
4 cups sliced, mixed variety fresh mushrooms
2 stalks organic celery, diced
3 organic carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 bunch of kale, chopped fine
2 small organic Yukon Gold (or other variety that aren't for baking) potatoes
1 14.5 oz. can salt free organic diced tomatoes (I used Whole Foods’ 365 brand)
Chopped, fresh parsley to taste
A few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
Freshly ground good quality peppercorns
Procedure:
Bring water to boil and add bouillon base
Rinse barley(s) and add to boiling stock and immediately reduce to a simmer
Add all other ingredients and when soup comes to a boil, turn heat to low, cover and cook for several hours, until barley is cooked through. (The hull-less barley won’t be as soft as the hulled or 'pearl' variety.)
You may need to add some more water as it cooks.
Have some fun and throw in other vegetables you may have laying around… cauliflower, peas, parsnips, turnips, and kohlrabi. (I don’t ever have kohlrabi around, but I like the way it looks and how it's spelled.)
Add freshly ground pepper to taste. If you feel you need salt, go ahead, but have your blood pressure checked soon.
Peace, love and button up your overcoats,
Jane
