From the archive

It's a coldish, rainy, dreary day here in Ohio, and I'm craving soup. So here's one from the archives to warm you up.

I made the Mushroom Barley Soup last November. I love soup with barley. In fact, I had a chicken barley soup from the cafeteria earlier this week. It was fairly decent, but I prefer the cafeteria's beef and barley soup better.

The recipe here calls for just mushrooms and barley — no meat involved. I added some rotisserie chicken, though, to bulk it up. Some cubes of beef would also be a great addition here. Or, you could leave it meatless if you prefer.

It also calls for turkey stock, but I made it with my homemade stock instead. You could also swap out beef broth if you're adding beef or make it completely vegetarian by using vegetable stock. But I would definitely punch it up with some extra herbs if you decide to do that.

That's what I love about soup — even if you are using a recipe, it's easy to change up to fit your likes and dislikes.

Stay warm and dry today, I know I'll be avoiding the outdoors.