Spicy Sausage Mushroom & Barley Stew

Soup, stew and chili weather has FINALLY arrived in Tampa!!! This recipe is one of our favorites! It's only 9:00am and I can't WAIT for dinner!! Is that wrong??

Spicy Sausage, Mushroom & Barley Stew

Ingredients:
2 tsps. olive oil
2 sweet onions chopped
19.5 oz. Jennie-O spicy turkey Italian sausage*
1 1/2 cups celery/sliced
1 1/2 cups carrot/sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
2 cups portobello mushrooms
5 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
(about 12 oz mushrooms)
½ cup uncooked pearl barley
3 (15.75 oz) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Heat oil in a large stew pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until slightly soft.

Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 8 minutes or until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble.

Add celery, carrot, garlic ; cook 10 minutes or until onions are golden brown, stirring frequently.

Stir in mushrooms, cook 10 minutes or until mushrooms release moisture.

Stir in barley, chicken broth, bayleaves and pepper. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until barley is tender.

Discard bay leaves, sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.
* You can also use Sweet Italian sausage, or organic chicken sausage.