Mushroom Barley Soup

If you wake up feeling like you just went to bed, unable to convince yourself to be exposed to the room air over your blankets, it might be winter in Minnesota. This is the time of year when you go out to start your car and your nose hair freezes within  seconds, and quite frankly I have a hard time getting motivated to get dressed and go to work at the crack of dawn some mornings. A day under a heated blanket with an electric teakettle and a good book sounds just about right. But alas, There was no apocalypse with the end of the Mayan calendar, and I live in the great white north, so life must go on...

Small consolations are big this time of year, when cabin fever makes us cranky and stir-crazy, and that's when I like to start whipping out the soup recipes. I recently made my beloved Mushroom Barley Soup, and it was so good we went on an epic post Christmas soup binge, where I actually considered having some for breakfast today...

Mushroom Barley Soup

-1 cup barley

-3 cups water

-2 cups celery, diced

-1 container fresh mushrooms, brushed and chopped

-1 cup diced carrots

-1/2 cup peas

-1/2 cup corn

-1 cup diced onion

-1 bay leave

-5 cups vegetable broth

- 1 1/2 T olive oil

-1 cup diced canned or fresh tomatoes

-1 t. salt

-1 t. pepper

-1 T. parsley

Directions: Bring the barley and water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stir in the onions, carrots, bay leaf and celery; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, and cook 5 minutes more. Add beef broth, peas and corn and bring soup to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and continue simmering 15 minutes. Stir in barley, and season with parsley, salt and pepper before serving.

Such a great meal for a cold day (or breakfast, if you're into that kinda thing). The barley makes this a filling main course, and it's chock full of awesome veggies. I like it with good ole' Saltines.  Enjoy!