Winter’s really settling in, meaning everyone’s in need of a little mothering. This highly nutritious Mushroom Barley Soup https://bit.ly/2q3zUQN is full of flavour and should definitely do the trick! #soup #barley #seaweed #Portabellini
Mushroom Barley Soup
Serves 8
Ingredients
1¼ cups hulled barley, soaked overnight
3 bay leaves
5cm piece kombu seaweed
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, diced
sea salt
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1tbsp minced fresh thyme
1½tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2 large carrots, cut in 1cm dice
2 stalks celery, cut in 1cm dice
2 cups cubed butternut (1cm cube)
1 cup diced cabbage (1cm dice)
450g Portabellini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
5 medium Portobello mushrooms, stemmed, halved and sliced
black pepper
2tsp barley or brown rice miso (optional)
naturally fermented tamari or soy sauce
chopped parsley to garnish
Method
1 Drain barley, rinse and place in a medium sized pot with bay leaves and kombu. Add 6 cups of filtered water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover pot, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours or until grains are soft and open. Remove kombu and set aside.
2 Warm half the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and add the onions. Sauté for a couple of minutes, add a pinch of salt and the garlic, and continue cooking for a couple more minutes. Stir in the thyme and rosemary. Add the carrots, celery, butternut and cabbage. Cook for a few minutes then add the barley and cooking liquid, plus 2 cups of water. Raise heat and bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
3 Warm the remaining olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. (If you don’t have a large enough skillet, you can cook them in a couple of batches). Sauté, stirring constantly, for a few minutes. Lower heat to medium and cook until softened and starting to brown. Stir mushrooms into the barley and vegetables, adding a cup of water if soup is too thick. Simmer for 15 minutes or longer to allow flavours to marry.
4 Dissolve miso in a small bowl with a little broth from the soup and stir back into pot. Add black pepper and tamari or soy sauce to taste. Remove from heat and serve with chopped parsley.