Meatless Thick and Creamy Mushroom Barley Soup

I love mushroom barley soup in all its permutations. I like it with meat (I have on the blog a corned beef version which is yum) but I find that you can make a very delicious meatless version as well.

Often during the week DH and I prefer not to eat a meat meal every night and so this non meat version works well for us. I also take it to work with me sometimes and it is filling and nourishing.

I like to get the thicker consistency in the soup which lends a velvety quality to the texture. I find that I cannot achieve this without making a slurry, which is simply whisking together an equal amount of flour and water and is far easier to make than a roux in which you cook flour with fat (butter, oil , marg etc.) and liquid, and since you anyway have oil in the soup it is not necessary. No need to complicate our lives!

The soup uses the basic vegetable mixture of onion, mushroom, carrot, potato and celery as the vegetable base.

As you can see, the veggies are all chopped fairly roughly and that’s fine.

Start with your chopped onion and put them in a pot large enough to hold approximately 12 cups of water.

Add oil and sautee till the onion turns a light brown.

Remove from the fire (don’t turn off, just take off briefly to stop them getting too dark and bitter) and add the rest of the chopped vegetables. Stir to coat with the oil and then add water, between 10-12 cups, and add imitation chicken soup powder (this is to give a basic brothy taste to the veggies), some salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

Keep on a low boil and add 1/2 -3/4 cup of pearled barley (more barley means thicker, as you choose) and bring back to a simmer/low boil (not full boil) and stir to make sure the barley doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Stir from time to time as it cooks. This should be about an hour and a half till the barley cooks and thickens the soup a bit. If the water evaporates too quickly, add some to the pot. You will taste test for spice and salt at the end, never fear.

Now you could eat it like this but I find I’m missing that lovely thick creaminess. So take about 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water and stir with a whisk (or a fork but make sure it’s fully combined) to get your slurry.

It’s sort of like heavy cream in consistency. A not too thick liquid. That’s fine and correct. Making sure it’s combined beforehand, pour slowly into the pot of simmering (not high simmer) soup and stir with a spoon, scraping the bottom to make sure it’s not sticking and stir till the slurry is incorporated, just a coupla minutes. Let come back to low simmer and let cook till thickened nicely. This is not put a spoon in it and it’ll stand up, rather a nice consistency of creamy thickness. Taste at this point to see if you need to add salt, don’t add any till you try it, too bad to make it oversalted.

This is a delicious meal in itself with a good bread and spread or a nice first course for a more elaborate meal. Always a hit!

Meatless Thick and Creamy Mushroom Barley Soup

One large or two medium onions, peeled and chopped roughly
3 generous tablespoons vegetable oil (like canola)
4 carrots, peeled and chopped roughly
3 stalks celery, washed and chopped
3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (doesn’t have to be perfect)
1/2-3/4 cup pearled barley
3 heaping tablespoons imitation chicken soup powder
2 teaspoons salt
pinch of pepper
1/4 cup flour +1/4 cup water for slurry
10-12 cups water, additional water may be needed

Directions:

Take a pot large enough to hold 12 cups of water put in the oil and sautee the chopped onion until light brown. Remove from fire and toss in the mushrooms, carrots, celery and potatoes and coat with oil and onion. Add the 10-12 cups water and bring to the boil. Add the soup powder, salt and pepper and bring to boil again. Add the barley and stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and cook for approximately an hour and a half on simmer/low boil or until the barley is very soft, stirring from time to time.

Take the 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and whisk well together till fully smooth and incorporated. Add slowly to the simmering soup till all absorbed and stir well. Let cook till the soup turns thick and creamy, about another ten minutes or so.

Note: You may need to add water as the soup burbles merrily along. This can unbalance the seasoning, so you must taste the soup (even if you don’t add water taste it) to see if more salt or soup powder is needed. If you do, in fact add more salt/soup powder, cook a few more minutes to make sure it’s incorporated into the soup.

Pair with a fine bread and enjoy!