Mushroom Barley Soup

Fall time is soup time.

It's true.

Nothing like a cold and blustery day to snuggle up under a fluffy blanket with some hearty soup and biscuits and a spooky movie.

Perfection.

Unless you are not a spooky movie fan. Then you have to go with a Disney movie or cartoon. Either way...perfection.

Yes, I'm a grown woman and I love cartoons. I could watch bugs bunny all day. I figure my love of spooky movies evens out my love of cartoons so I still maintain a respectable maturity level.

Kind of.

Anyway...

If you are feeling a snuggle/soup/movie night coming on then here is a perfect soup recipe for you to try. Definitely hearty and filling.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients

1 cup barley

4 cups water

1 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups baby carrots, quartered

2 stalks celery, diced

4 cups mushrooms, sliced

2 Tbsp dried spinach

1 tsp dried parsley

salt & pepper

2 Tbsp flour

4 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup sour cream

Directions

In a medium pan, bring barley and 4 cups of water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until barley is soft. (This can be done a day ahead if you want.)

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add the carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are soft. (I used a combination of white and brown mushrooms but you can use whatever combo you like.)

Sprinkle with dried spinach, parsley, salt & pepper, and flour.

Add the chicken broth and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Let simmer about 10 - 15 minutes, until vegetables are all cooked through.

Stir in the cooked barley and cook another 15 minutes or so.

Remove bay leaves and discard. Stir in sour cream. Season with more salt & pepper, if desired.

Serve hot.

Sorry for the steamy photos on the bottom two shots. It was REALLY hot and trust me when I say, it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep the steam out of a shot of hot soup cooking on the stove.

This is soooo filling. Barley is like some kind of magic food.

Plus, it's delicious. If you like mushrooms.

I do.

So....yeah....I ate a lot of this while I watched Sharktopus.

Yeah, it's a real movie. It doesn't really qualify as a "spooky" movie per se....more of a ridiculous scifi monster movie.

I love bad movies.

They are fantastic, FYI.

Especially if you can watch them whilst eating soup under a blanket on a chilly day.

Head over to Carol's Chatter for some great food and crafting links.