asparagus and barley soup

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barley is good food!-)

 

 

* Exported from MasterCook *

 

Asparagus and Barley Soup

 

Recipe By :Anna Thomas

Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : Anna_Thomas Soups

{Posted}

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

3/4 cup pearl barley

8 cups delicate vegetable broth -- preferably home-made (8-10)

3 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon butter

2 leeks -- white only, chopped

12 ounces white mushrooms (oyster and champignon)

1 clove garlic -- minced

salt and pepper -- to taste

1/2 pound fresh green asparagus

1 large fennel bulb

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Rinse the barley and combine it in a pot with four cups of the vegetable broth.

Simmer it on a very low flame for about an hour, or until it is tender.

 

Heat a teaspoon of olive and the teaspoon of butter in a non-stick pan and cook

the leeks in it, over a medium flame, until they are just soft. Stir the leeks

into the barley.

 

Clean the mushrooms and slice them thinly, cutting them in half first if they

are very big. Add the remaining two teaspoons oil to the pan and stir the garlic

over a medium flame for a minute or two, then add the mushrooms. Salt them

lightly and saute them until they are just beginning to color.

 

Meanwhile, trim the asparagus and slice off the tips, then continue slicing the

stalks, at a slight angle, into thin slices. Cut the trimmed fennel bulb into

wedges and slice them crosswise, very thinly.

 

Add the sauteed mushrooms, the asparagus, fennel and dill to the barley and

leeks, along with another four cups of the vegetable broth. Simmer the soup for

about fifteen minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Stir in the lemon

juice. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and as much more of the vegetable broth as

you need to make a soup of the consistency you like.

 

Serve this soup garnished with dill sprigs, and for a treat, add a spoonful of

creme fraiche.

 

Makes about 8 servings.

 

Source:

" Vegetarian Epicure 1999 www.vegetarianepicure.com "

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 1145 Calories; 30g Fat (21.9% calories

from fat); 30g Protein; 207g Carbohydrate; 40g Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol;

8227mg Sodium. Exchanges: 8 1/2 Grain(Starch); 9 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 5 1/2

Fat.

 

NOTES : I love mushroom and barley soups, but they are always deeply flavored

and earthy, full of carrots and turnips and other wintry things. In short,

they're perfect for winter. But this week, with the cool weather lingering, I

wanted a soup that combined the comforting quality of barley with the fresh

flavors of spring - asparagus, fennel, leeks and baby dill. This was the result:

a soup of great delicacy and flavor, yet substantial enough to make a meal.

 

+ The vegetable broth you use for this soup should be flavorful but not

overwhelming - nothing with tomatoes, nothing overly carroty. And go easy on the

salt until the final seasoning.

 

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 4204 0 0 2085 0 0 0

 

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