Beef barley soup and Scotch broth, rich with bits of lamb, are two classic soups with barley. But if you enjoy the flavour but don’t want the meat, what are you to do?
My solution was to get out a baking sheet, put sliced mushrooms and “mirepoix” — a mixture of cut onions, celery and carrots — on it, drizzle with olive oil, and roast them.
I later added other ingredients, such as dried herbs, garlic and tomato paste, to the mushrooms and vegetables. Through the roasting process, they developed a rich, almost meaty flavour, thanks primarily to the mushrooms.
I then spooned the roasted mixture into a pot and added barley, vegetable broth and a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce. I brought the soup to a simmer on the stovetop, simmering it until the barley was tender.
The resulting soup was as thick, hearty and comforting as barley soups made with meat — except, of course, there was no meat. If you serve the soup with slices of dense whole wheat bread, you’ll create a filling and appealing lunch or dinner.
I like adding a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce to some of the soups I make because its intense flavour adds a whack of umami-rich goodness.
Worcestershire sauce is made with such ingredients as vinegar, molasses, tamarind, spices and other seasonings. It also contains anchovies. If you can’t have fish, though, you could use vegan Worcestershire sauce, which does not contain anchovies. Google “vegan Worcestershire sauce Victoria” and you’ll find links to food stores selling it.
In my recipe, I’ve also given you the option to add a few splashes of tamari to the soup, instead of Worcestershire sauce. Tamari is a fermented Japanese-style sauce made from soybeans, water, salt and koji (fermented rice). It’s a darker, thicker-style of soy sauce that has aged a while, yielding a sauce with a savoury, almost meaty flavour.
Barley is high in fibre and contains B vitamins, iron, calcium, potassium and other minerals. When shopping for it, you’ll see bags of pearl barley and pot barley for sale.
Both types go through a machine that removes the outer inedible hull and polishes the kernel — a process called pearling — but pearl barley is pearled for a longer period of time, which causes it to cook more quickly than pot barley, which is pearled for a shorter period, leaving most of the bran intact.
Although it’s not quite as nutritious as pot barley, I like to use pearl barley in most soups because it does cook more quickly and becomes tender when my soup has simmered long enough to develop a fine flavour, but not so long that it overly reduces.
Barley Soup with Roasted Mushrooms and Vegetables
Comforting, hearty barley soup stocked with roasted mushrooms and vegetables and a French-style mix of herbs.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Makes: four servings
8 small to medium white mushrooms (about 5 oz./150 grams), sliced
8 small to medium brown mushrooms (about 5 oz./150 grams), sliced
1 cup diced onion (about 1 small to medium onion; see Note 1)
1/2 cup diced carrot (about 1 medium carrot)
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 medium rib of celery)
3 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp herbes de Provence (see Note 2)
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth, plus more if needed (see Eric’s options)
1/3 cup pearl barley
• a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce or tamari
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or minced green onion
Preheat oven to 400 F. Set out a large non-stick baking sheet. If you don’t have a non-stick baking sheet, set out a regular large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
Put the mushrooms, onions, carrots and celery on the baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Spread the mushrooms and vegetables out, then set the baking sheet in the oven and roast 20 minutes. Mix the tomato paste, garlic and herbes des Provence into the mushrooms and vegetables, then roast them 10 more minutes.
Transfer the mushroom and vegetable mixture to a pot, ensuring you get all of it (my pot was eight inches wide and four inches tall). Add the broth, barley and Worcestershire sauce (or tamari), set the pot over medium-high heat, and bring soup to a gentle simmer (small bubbles should just break on the surface). Lower heat as needed to maintain that gentle simmer. Simmer the soup 25 minutes, or until barley is tender. Add a bit more broth to the soup, if you prefer it to be a bit thinner. Taste and season the soup with salt and pepper, as needed. Mix in the parsley (or green onion), and serve.
Note 1: Diced in this recipe means to cut into 1/4-inch cubes.
Note 2: Herbes de Provence is a French-style blend of dried herbs sold in the bottled herb and spice aisle of most grocery stores. If you can’t find it or wish to use dried herbs you already have on hand, use a two-teaspoon mix of them, combining ones you would find in herbes de Provence, such as thyme, marjoram, rosemary, savory, basil, oregano and/or tarragon.
Eric’s options: If you eat meat, you could use beef or chicken broth in the soup instead of vegetable broth.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
