Rich Barley Mushroom Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, minced in food processor
• 1 1/2 cups celery, very finely chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup barley
• 2 lbs mushrooms, sliced
• 1 quart chicken broth (i use homemade or low sodium canned)
• 2 -3 tablespoons soy sauce, more as needed
• ground black pepper, to taste
• sour cream, with
• dill (for a fantastic garnish)

Recipe

• 1 in a soup pot on med heat, melt 1 stick of butter and add celery and onions to sweat until translucent. (i use the food processor for my onions because i don't actually want the onion pieces -- i pulse it until it's a rough puree (just past finely chopped).
• 2 add in the barley (i didn't use quick barley, but i'm sure you could). stir a few minutes.
• 3 add in all of your mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have gotten dark and given up a lot of their liquid.
• 4 add in the chicken broth.
• 5 add the soy sauce and taste. if it's not salty enough, add soy sauce 1 tsp at a time until you like it. (a little goes a long way. taste soup before and after adding the soy -- you won't believe the difference!).
• 6 simmer on stove until barley has totally expanded. i think the soup may even be better the next day, but it's certainly a quick soup that could be made and served within 45 minutes. probably less if you use quick barley.
• 7 add black pepper to taste and tweak with more soy, as needed.
• 8 sour cream and dill are a great garnish, but not necessary.
• 9 prep and cooking time are estimates, but it shouldn't take longer than that.
• 10 soup can thicken a lot overnight to almost a stew like consistency. i usually add more broth (or water) and check soy and pepper before serving.