Mushroom Barley Soup

Yield: 4 servings

I sought out a recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup because I was craving it. When I found this recipe, I was highly skeptical of the process but figured I’d try it anyway. Typically when you make soup, you start by sauteing vegetables, most often onion, carrot and celery. Then you add some seasonings to the vegetables for a few minutes, and let them release their flavors, before adding other ingredients and some sort of broth. Not here. In this recipe, you put it ALL IN THE SOUP POT, bring it to a boil, and then let it simmer for 30 minutes. Yep – that’s it. It actually works!

Ingredients:

• 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 rib celery, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 pound cremini or white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
•  1/2 cup barley (I used pearled)
• salt and pepper
• 1 TB minced parsley

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the beef stock with the carrot, celery, onion, mushrooms and barley. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Bring to a boil, cover partially and simmer over moderately low heat until the barley and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Add the parsley to the soup. Season the soup to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Source: www.foodandwine.com