Mushroom Barley Soup

As the weather is getting colder, nothing can warm you up quite like a hot bowl of healthy and hearty soup. Loaded with vegetables and barley, this soup has everything you need to fill you up. It is perfect to make in a big batches and save. With one easy preparation, you could have lunch for a week!

Recipe yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups carrots
2 cups yellow onion
2 cups celery
4 cups baby bella mushrooms
8 cups chicken stock (you can also use vegetable or beef stock - your choice)
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tbsp dried thyme
1 1/2 cups dry barley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut the carrots, onion and celery into a small dice.

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in the bottom of a large stock pot. Add your carrots, onions and celery. Toss to coat with the oil and then cover to steam for 5-8 minutes on medium high heat.

While vegetables are cooking, heat the other 1/2 tbsp of oil in a skillet and saute the mushrooms until lightly brown on the outsides.

Once vegetables have softened, add chicken stock to the pot. Give it a good stir.

Add in the mushrooms, parsley and thyme. Stir it all up and bring to a boil.

Toss in the dried barley and lower to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes or so until the barley becomes plump.

Add salt and pepper to heighten the flavors. Be sure to taste it along the way to know if more seasoning is needed.

Spoon into serving bowls. You can serve this with a piece of fresh baguette as a main dish or on the side of one of your favorites. Enjoy!