Winter Is Here Mushroom And Barley Stoup

• 2-4 Tbs olive oil, divided, depending on how rich you like it.
• 1 large onion or 2 medium ones, diced small
• 1 large carrot or 2 medium, diced small
• 2 stalks celery, diced small
• 1 lb mushrooms sliced or chopped
• a glug (2 Tbs or so?) of dry sherry (optional)
• 8 c hot vegetable broth, preferably low-sodium
• 1 c pearl barley, rinsed (or 1/2 c for a soup)
• couple large pinches thyme
• lots of fresh ground black pepper
• a bay leaf
• 1/4 c chopped parsely
• 1 tsp dill weed (dried) or 1 Tbs if you have fresh.

1. Saute the onion, carrot and celery in half the olive oil until soft. do not brown. Meanwhile, separately saute the mushrooms in the rest of the oil (or use better here) until they've released their juices and are starting to soften. Add the sherry and cook a little longer to evaporate.
2. Put all veggies and juices into a 4-qt pan and add stock, barley, thyme, and pepper. A bay leaf is good too. Cook at a simmer until barley is almost done, 45-min to 1 hr. Add parsley and dill and cook about 10 minutes more. Check for salt & pepper and enjoy!
3. (You can also cook this in a slow cooker after sauteeing the veggies.)

olive oil, onion, carrot, stalks celery, mushrooms, sherry, vegetable broth, pearl barley, couple, lots of fresh ground black pepper, ubc, dill

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/winter-is-here-mushroom-and-barley-stoup-50061602 (may not work)