Mushroom Barley Soup (Slow Cooker)

One beef I have with crock pot recipes is sometimes the size of the crock pot isn't included with the recipe. I have an 7 qt. Kitchen Aide Crock Pot, so most recipes will fit into it. With this recipe, I noticed I only filled the crock with these ingredients to the 4 quart line. I got this recipe out of the Simple Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook. I noticed that the finished soup needed salt, but I don't add salt to my soups. I leave that up to the discretion of the person eating the soup. I used herbs from my garden that I grew and dried last fall. I used white button mushrooms in this soup. I sprinkled a little Romano cheese on top of my bowl of soup, which isn't vegan, but it surely tasted good and added a little extra flavour. I doubled the recipe because we love our soup!

• Ready In: 6 hrs 15 mins
• Serves: 1
• Yields: 6-8 cups

Ingredients

• 4  cups  vegetable stock
• 4  cups  sliced mushrooms (fresh)
• 1⁄2 cup pearl barley
• 3  tablespoons  dairy-free margarine
• 1  tablespoon fresh dill
• 2  teaspoons dried basil
• 2  teaspoons dried thyme
• 1  teaspoon dried tarragon

Directions

1. Add the soup stock to your slow cooker and turn it on. If you're cooking this on low, 6 to 8 hours is perfect.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and set the crock and let it cook.
3. I always check the soup about 1/2 way through cooking as I've found at times the soups is done sooner then the time stated.
4. Bon Appetit.