My Favorite Soup Recipe (Healthy, Too!)

After eight days of food abandon (aren't vacations great?), it's no wonder I'm starting to crave simple, nourishing foods that will help me get back on track. Barley Mushroom Soup fits the bill, full of whole grain goodness! We've tried many soups in our 24 years at The New Deli, but this has proven to be a classic.

One soup that my friend always encouraged me to make: Vegetable Rice Soup. She loved it! But it had one serious problem: If the rice is added to the whole pot of soup, it will only take an hour or so before those innocent little rice grains have sucked all the moisture out of the broth, leaving one with a pot of mush. Lifeless, texture-less grains of mush...

We finally realized that we could make some fine bowls of Vegetable Rice Soup if we cooked the rice separately, adding a small scoop of it to the bowl at serving time. I suppose that's why my recipe for classic gumbo suggested adding the rice to the bowl just before ladling in the soup.

But that's the beauty of Barley Soup. The barley retains its texture! I can make a big pot of it, and reheat bowls of it days later, and it still has that great, satisfying bite. Do try it, if you're looking for a healthy soup recipe... (See recipe here.)