It’s certainly summer here in Jerusalem, and I find that there are two types of people. Those who love the heat and throw their windows open at night to embrace whatever cool air we have here in the mountains. And then, they’re folks like us, who crank up the air conditioning to the point where we can walk around in sweats and cuddle underneath our blankets.
And when it’s nice and arctic indoors, I don’t mind serving soup for first course Friday night. So here’s my easy recipe for creamy mushroom barley soup. Don’t let the name fool you, there isn’t actually cream in the soup. Rather, it’s the cup of pearl barley that caused this creamy consistency! Either way, it’s absolutely delicious!
Creamy Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 package shitake mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
- 4-5 celery stalks, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup of pearl barley, rinsed
- 2 beef boullion cubes
- 1 TBSP oregano
- 1 TBSP chopped parsley
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Olive oil
- 12 cups of water
Directions
- Coat bottom of soup pot with olive oil and heat
- Add onions and saute until translucent, making sure not to brown
- Add remaining ingredients, mix and bring to a boil. Cover pot, lower flame and simmer until the barley is cooked and vegetables are fork tender
This soup recipe freezes really well! We are eating the second batch tonight!
What’s on your Shabbat menu?
How did you know I found some gorgeous organic barley in my Supersol Green last week? I’m planning on making this for this coming Shabbat (even though today is only Sunday, Shabbat is always in the planning stages).
oh excellent! Let me know how it comes out and if you end up tweaking the recipe at all! BTW, I use American celery in this recipe, but I’m sure you can use the Israeli celery, just double the amount.