Kale, barley, mushroom soup

I read an article on kale once that said, "Kale is so nutritious it makes broccoli look like Doritoes."

Consider that just one cup of kale provides the following nutrition:

• 684% of the RDA for Vitamin K
• 206% RDA for Vitamin A, which includes beta carotenes and the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin (both important for eye health)
• 134% RDA for Vitamin C
• Trace amounts of many B vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, and pantothenic acid
• 26% RDA for manganese
• 10% of RDA for copper
• 9% of RDA for calcium and potassium
• 6% of RDA for iron and magnesium
• Trace amounts of sodium, zinc, and selenium

Kale has a protein score of 92 out of 100, containing nearly all of the essential amino acids. Per calorie, it contains more calcium than milk, and the calcium from leafy greens in more easily absorbed than the calcium from dairy.
Women especially benefit from kale.
Folate is essential in pregnancy for first trimester brain development and high-folate foods should be consumed BEFORE conception. Vitamin K is necessary if your child will not receive the Vitamin K shot in the hospital. Side note: The shot is 20,000 times the RDA of Vitamin K for a newborn. No, I'm not joking, and no, Drew didn't get it. I bought the bottle of oral Vitamin K online and he got one drop the day he was born, one drop a week later, and one drop at one month of age. And his wittle weg didn't get stuck by a sharp needle. BUT, I also loaded up on Vitamin K rich foods during pregnancy, including sprouts and leafy greens.

Barley is another powerhouse of nutrition. One cup of pearl barley (the least nutritional kind, by the way, but the easier to add to soups, so...) contains 24% of your RDA of fiber. (WARNING! WARNING! DO NOT eat barley without understanding that 9 g of fiber is a LOT - the same amount that's in a Fiber One bar, whose entire marketing premise is, "Hey, this has a lot of fiber in it." Don't eat this if you've got symphony tickets. You WILL miss a movement* or two. )
It contains 33 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids, and 303 mg of Omega-6 acids. It has 12% of the RDA for iron and 4 grams of protein.
Water which has had barley soaked in it is also a well-known remedy for low milk production in nursing mothers. Trust me when I tell you to use caution with this remedy or they'll start calling you Daisy.

An ounce of porcini mushrooms contains 14% of your protein and 28% of your iron for the day.

With all that in mind, this soup I made today is really healthy.
More importantly, it's delicious.

It was inspired by a recipe from the NY Times which I found via Google. Their recipe called for things like bouquet garni and Parmesan rind.
Look, I have two small kids. If you want Parmesan in my house, it's coming to you in a green container. The part of their recipe for rehydrating the porcinis was literally a decent paragraph's length. It involved cheesecloth, two bowls and a strainer. Seriously, rehydrating a few mushrooms should not take that long to explain.

Here is my adaptation, which actual people living actual lives should have no problem throwing together.



You vill need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c green onions, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
4 c vegetable broth
2 c water
1 packet Lipton onion/mushroom soup mix
8 oz kale, washed and chopped
handful of dried porcinis, rehydrated and chopped
1 c pearl barley
6-8 crimini mushrooms, chopped
28 oz can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper


Rehydrate the porcinis by pouring 2 c. boiling water over them. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes or so. Remove mushrooms and chop. Save the water, for crying out loud.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add green onions and garlic and saute.
Add the criminis (baby bellas) and cook another few minutes.

Add vegetable broth, mushroom water, porcinis, and tomatoes, bring to a boil.

Add the barley, let it boil for a minute or two, then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes or until barley is not quite tender and done.

By this time the water will have reduced down quite a bit. Add packet of soup mix to 2 c boiling water and throw it in the pot.

Add kale and cook til tender. This should be enough time for the barley to get done.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread.

*I didn't set out to make that pun, but there you have it.