Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients

Olive Oil, 1 tbsp
Onions, raw, 1 cup, chopped
Garlic, 1 tsp
Mushrooms, fresh, 16 medium, sliced or torn in chunks
Balsamic Vinegar, 3 tbsp
Worcestershire Sauce, 5 tsp
Vegetarian Vegetable Broth, 1 can (approx. 14 oz)
Whole Wheat Flour, 1/4 cup
Milk, 2%, 1 cup

Directions

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil
Add mushrooms and cook for 5 - 10 mins
Add balsamic and worcestershire - cook 2 mins
Add 1 cup barley, broth and 3 cups water
Simmer approx 20 mins
Whisk together flour and milk thoroughly, add to soup
Simmer 5 - 10 more mins

Source/Lineage

This recipe was modified (vegetarian) from the recipe

featured in Fitness Magazine - January 2011.

The Nitty Gritty

Nutritional info per serving obtained via SparkPeople Recipes:

• Servings Per Recipe: 5
• Calories: 110.0
• Total Fat: 4.0 g
• Cholesterol: 3.9 mg
• Sodium: 464.4 mg
• Total Carbs: 15.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 12.0 g
• Protein: 4.7 g

 

Inspiration

There are so few soup recipes or restaurant offerings that are truly vegetarian.  I'm amazed at the number of restaurants that make vegetable soup... with chicken or beef broth.  I crave warm, comforting soups in the winter and typically have to count on making them myself to fit the vegetarian bill.  As a side note - I'm not a wimpy soup lover.  Watery French onion soup and the like don't make the cut in our test kitchen.  I'll typically amp up a soup with pasta, rice, barley etc. to give it more heft as a meal.

I usually serve this (and most other soups) with a round of whole wheat sandwich thins/rounds (recently popular and easy to find in most grocery stores) with provolone or parmesan cheese on top - no butter needed.  About 5 minutes at 350 - 400 degrees to melt the cheese plus 2 - 3 minutes on broil to give it that cheesy toasty goodness fits the bill at our house.  Enjoy!