Mushroom barley bean soup

Ingredients

• 10 cups (2400ml) water
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 8 oz (230g) mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 1 cup (240ml) white beans
• 1 cup (240ml) barley
• 1 or 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 or 2 zucchini, chopped
• vegetable or chicken soup mix or stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Soak the beans for several hours and set aside.
2. In a large pot (the same one you'll make the soup in), sauté onion for about 3 minutes.
3. Add carrots and zucchini; sauté 5 minutes more.
4. Add mushrooms, sauté until they release all their liquid.
5. Add the water, barley, beans, spices, and stock (or soup mix).
6. Cook for a few hours.

Serves 10.

Notes, tips, and variations

• Mushrooms release a lot of liquid when cooking. You can add this liquid to the soup, as directed above, or boil it off to make more strongly flavored vegetables.
• Cubed meat can be added to this soup.