I love to cook, but baking… not so much.  I have a terrible tendency to leave out ingredients, and that doesn't really work.  (You can't stir in some baking soda at the last minute and expect the recipe to work.)  When I cook, I am infamous for substituting ingredients.  Even in my favorite recipes, I rarely make then the same way twice.  So it's really no surprise that when a friend emailed me a recipe for Barley Soup with Mushrooms and Kale (subscription required), I ended up making Brown Rice Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach.  (It was quite good, even though I realized as I was writing this post that I made more changes than I even planned!)

Here's my recipe mods:

No dried mushrooms – didn't have any at the grocery store

No boiling water, since I didn't have any dried mushrooms to revive

1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, as needed

1 large onion, chopped

Substituted 8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms (1 pkg.) for the fancy ones called for in the recipe

2 large garlic cloves, minced

Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste

Substituted 3/4c. brown rice – apparently my grocery store doesn't carry barley?

Oops – put in less water than called for, 3 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups + 1 1/2 quarts (plus some veggie bouillon base)

Substituted 2 bay leaves and some sprinkles of dried parsley and thyme for a "bouquet garni"

Substituted all the spinach from this week's farm share for 8 to 10 oz. kale 

No pepper – I must no have seen that in the recipe.

Saute onions 5 min.  Ad mushrooms, cook 3 min.  Add garlic and some salt, cook 5 min.  Add water & rice. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer 45 min. Add kale, cook 15-20 min.  Pick out bay leaves and serve!  Quite delicious with a side of farm share fromage on toast.