Barley Miso Stew

Crispy toasted breadcrumbs pair with garden fresh tomato and zucchini for a sort of ying and yang of texture and flavor. A satisfying vegan meal in about an hour.
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 quart broth (vegetable or other favorite)
3 Tbsp barley miso (or other miso)
2 Yukon gold potatoes, diced 1/2-inch

8 oz mushrooms
2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and diced
Dash red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 brick extra-firm tofu, diced 1/2-inch
2 small zucchini, diced (about 2 cups)
1 large fresh, ripe tomato, diced
1/2 loaf unsliced, crusty bread, cubed (about 4-5 cups)
1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil
Palmful fresh cilantro leaves, minced

In this recipe you'll have two parallel processes - a broth and a sauté that get mixed together towards the end.

Bring broth to a boil in a medium Dutch Oven or soup pot. Add the barley, return to a boil, stir and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cook mushrooms over high heat in a bit of olive oil in a large skillet. Allow the mushrooms to release what water they will, and to brown up a bit. Add the leeks and red pepper flakes, and sauté gently to soften the leeks, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic for another 5 minutes.

Set veggies aside off the heat.

After 20 minutes, add the miso and the potatoes to the broth and cook another 20 minutes on a simmer. Stir from time to time. Then add the tofu, and the zucchini and the leek-mushroom mixture, and cook another 20 minutes. Add a bit of water if necessary.

Melt the butter in the oil in a small bowl in the microwave. As the soup finishes cooking, brown the bread cubes in a large non-stick skillet. First toss the cubes dry over high heat. As they start to dry and brown just a bit, add the butter-oil mixture and continue cooking to form nicely browned croutons.

Right before serving, fold in the fresh tomatoes into the hot soup.  Serve the stew in wide bowls sprinkled with cilantro and croutons.

Serves 6.

Cook's Note:  I used ciabatta bread for the croutons, but you can use any good fresh bread you have on hand.

Freshly-made toasted, buttery brown croutons add a huge dimension to this dish and counterbalance the fresh tomatoes which garnish this soup as well. I would say store-bough prepared croutons should be considered a last resort.