Portobello Mushroom & Barley Soup

Sunday morning I slept in, choosing to skip my regular longish weekend run because my body was still sore from my fall and I wasn’t at all interested in running in the six inches of snow on the ground, anyway.  I enjoyed a very lazy  morning and by the afternoon had lots of energy and was ready to tackle some bulk cooking.  I suddenly remembered that there was a box in the hallway that arrived while I was in Woodstock.  My second pressure cooker!

I tore into the box like a kid at Christmas, put it together and soon I had two pressure cookers rockin’ on the stove.

I made pinto beans in the smaller (4 quart) pressure cooker–which later became refried beans–and I made this soup in the 6 quarter pressure cooker.

Portobello Mushroom & Barley Soup

by JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a side of Kale

Ingredients (Makes 6 – 8 servings)

  • Avocado oil (or vegetable oil of your choice, optional)
  • Half a yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 large portobello mushrooms (6 oz), sliced, then sliced again
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 3/4 cup pearled barley (dry), rinsed and drained
  • 3 cups vegetable stock (I used my spicy homemade stock!)
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 thyme sprigs (dehydrated from fresh)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat oil (or water/vegetable broth) in an uncovered pressure cooker.
  2. Add garlic and onion and saute for a few minutes.
  3. Add celery and carrot and saute for 3 – 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in mushrooms, tomato, barley, stock and water and thyme.
  5. Cover and bring to pressure.
  6. Cook at pressure for 20 minutes.
  7. Remove from heat and allow pressure to release naturally.
  8. Salt and pepper to taste.
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This recipe made me immensely happy because it was downright delicious and it was so freaking wholesome!  Whole vegetables and a whole grain prepared with my own homemade vegetable stock made completely from more whole vegetables.

What made me even happier, though, was my omnivore husband’s response when I asked him to taste it. “Can we have this for dinner?”  Yes. And we did.

24 thoughts on “Portobello Mushroom & Barley Soup”

  1. This looks delicious – I still need a pressure cooker, but I could cook this the “long” way too. I love the picture of the soup and spoon over the bamboo (?) mat!

    1. Thank you!  Yes, it’s a bamboo mat — fun, huh?  Was so excited to “see you” in boot camp last night! 🙂

      1. Me too – it was great to see your name on the list! I’m excited to learn as much as I can over the next few weeks. Hoping to figure out the hangout thing tomorrow night. 🙂

      2. Me too – it was great to see your name on the list! I’m excited to learn as much as I can over the next few weeks. Hoping to figure out the hangout thing tomorrow night. 🙂

  2. This sounds so awesome. I NEVER use my pressure cooker. In fact, I think I’ve lost the pressure cap anyway. I had one bean explosion, and I vowed to retire it for good. But I might try this the slow-cooked way.

    1. I was terrified when I got the first one but now I actually even leave the kitchen when they are going! LOL

  3. I got a pressure cooker for Christmas, and this is the first recipe I made. Easy and declicious! Thank you!!

    1. @89397bf3923aee78c360a8f60744ffff:disqus, I’m so glad you liked it and appreciated the ease! Congrats on that pressure cooker! 🙂

  4. I made this today and it was delicious. The proportions of broth to veggies to barley were perfect. Not being tomato season, I substituted a 14-oz. can of diced tomatoes. Seems like an okay switch. Thanks for a great recipe!

  5. I found this on Pinterest and as it’s getting cooker I feel like I need to make this soup! The problem is, I don’t have a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. How would I cook this in a regular pot on the stove?

    1. Hi Claire Allison. First, I usually wouldn’t be able to answer this for you regarding most of my pressure cooker recipes. I’m a home cook and post about how I make things in the PC, but this recipe was in my book Vegan for Her and I did test it on the stovetop, too. Here you go:

      STOVE TOP INSTRUCTIONS:

      Heat oil in a large pot.

      Add garlic and onions and sauté for a few minutes.

      Add celery and carrots and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes.

      Add water and stock and bring to a boil.

      Add mushrooms, tomato, barley, and thyme to boiling water/stock and stir together.

      Cover the pot with a lid and reduce the heat to low for 35 to 40 minutes.

      Add salt and pepper to taste.

      1. Thank you so much! A pressure cooker has been on my ‘want’ list but being a broke college student doesn’t exactly help haha ;P
        I’ll have to check out that book Abbe you’re other recipes when i do get a pressure cooker! Thanks again.

  6. Recipe looks good! But I tried to print it for later and all it printed was a “warning”? Can’t be saved?

    1. Hi, @disqus_WVWUt9QLYy:disqus! Sorry about the trouble but after having many of my recipes lifted from my site and used in plagiarized books on Amazon, I added copyright protection that doesn’t allow cutting and pasting. I will eventually get my recipes converted to a program that allows printing.You should be able to book mark the recipe, though! Meanwhile, I’m SO HAPPY that you enjoyed it!

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