Barley and Beet Soup with Corn Dumplings

3/4 cup hulled barley (or rolled barley)
About 16 cups delicate vegetable stock
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 leeks, white only, chopped
16 oz. white mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
3 fresh beets, chopped
1 large fennel bulb, chopped
2 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup corn

Dumplings:
1 1/2 cup white wheat flour
1 1/2 cup Cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup Vegetable oil

For hulled barley, you have three choices.
1. sprout the barley over the course of several days.
2. let the barley simmer in 4 cups of water for 60 minutes.
3. cook the barley in a rice cooker or a pressure cooker, again using about 4 cups of water.

If you are using rolled barley, you can just add it to the soup with the vegetables.


Combine the ingredients for the dumplings in a medium bowl and mix with a fork until combined.

Bring the stock to a boil, then add barley, dill, olive oil, leeks, mushrooms, garlic, beets, fennel and corn, and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Plop in the dumpling dough by the spoonful, cover the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes. Do not lift cover until dumplings have cooked for 10 minutes, but make sure it doesn't overflow and make a huge mess like the one I made. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve this soup garnished with dill sprigs.

Makes about 4 quarts