Our topic today is Barley Mushroom Soup. While we are still in our 60’s at night… before the 70’s hits us next week I thought I would cook up a pot of soup. And since I have more Restaurant Reviews in the back log of blogging, I thought I would take a break and let you cook something up yourself!
This is something you can sink your teeth into. There’s a box of organic creamy mushroom soup created without milk, a box of organic veggie broth, 1/2 cup to a cup of washed, toasted barley, caramelized carrots, several kinds of mushrooms – about a half a cup or a little more (big portobellos, oyster mushrooms and whatever else you like) and salt and pepper to taste. For those who are eating different forms of ham, you can incorporate bits of that in place of any salt. But not me. I try to stay vegan as often as I can. If I don’t crave the animal protein (which is hardly ever), I don’t eat the animal protein. (I’m no fool, no sir eee, I wanna live to 103).
Music. It takes me over when I least expect it! lol
Anyway, without counting salt and pepper (and some of the other things I put in at the end like organic onion and garlic granules), we’ve got broth, barley, carrots, mushrooms and thyme. That’s 5 ingredients. It doesn’t get any easier than this and takes less time than any meal I create.
The key to this soup is to bring it up to ‘the boil’, then go down to simmer, put a top on and cook it low and slow all day if you like, making sure you stir occasionally, so nothing sticks to the bottom.
I placed it in the fridge overnight and 2 days later, on a lazy Sunday, put it on the stove again adding fresh thyme (a lemon flavor) from the plant I just bought (stems and all).
Of course at the end, the leaves fall off and you can retrieve the stems even from your bowl to toss aside.
By the way, do you know what ‘stems’ on spinach and most veggies are removed in most recipes? Stems are bitter. So unless and if you are needing bitter to balance sugar in your recipe, just skip the stems!
Dinner tonight was great and easy….. Some bread if you like to sop up the bottom of the bowl and help fill you, and we’re done! You can also freeze the soup and eat it after the summer! It’s all good!
Healthy Happy Eating,
