We had a delicious barley soup the other day at The Chicago Diner that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about. This was my attempt at that soup with what we have on hand.
1 1/2 cups reconstituted dried maitake mushrooms, chopped
2 small carrots, sliced thin
1 large stalk of celery, chopped small
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 large red onion, chopped small
2 cubes veggie bouillon
2 Tbsp red miso
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
2 Tsp French Thyme
7 cups water
1/2 cup + barley
Bay leaf
Fresh thyme
Heat a pot with a bit of olive oil and add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic and cook for a few minutes to bring out the flavors. Add the dried herbs and stir. Add the mushrooms, the strained mushroom water (make sure there’s no bits in it), and top up the water to total 7 cups. Add the fresh herbs, barley, bouillon and miso, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes. Pluck out the chunky fresh herbs and enjoy!
*This is just with ingredients I had on hand. It’s snowing. I’m not going out. While I’d wanted to use simple button mushrooms, the chewiness of the maitakes were a welcome addition to the soup.
That’s some mighty fine soup!