Don't focus on pickles in this soup. They give it a tasty zing.

Some of you will see this recipe for pickle soup and know that it's a Polish favorite - with as many varieties as there are Polish grandmas, or should we say babciu?

Others will think, "Pickles, ewwww," and skip right past this, moving on to the rest of the Food section.

To that latter group, you'd be making a mistake. Don't focus on the pickles. Even though this is labeled "pickle soup," think of it as a hearty, healthy mushroom barley vegetable soup with a bit of zing and a lot of dill.

Of course, the zing and the dill come from adding a cup of finely diced dill pickles at the end, with a splash of pickle juice if you want more. As overwhelming as that seems, it gives it that little pop of acid and, of course, a nice dill flavor.

This soup also gets better after a day or two when everything has a chance to blend and calm down a bit.

My only other caveat is that this recipe will give you a workout - there are many vegetables here, which means a lot of chopping. You will also have three pots going at once, so prepare for some dishwashing when you are done.

It's a full meal, though and well worth the effort. Feel free to add shredded chicken or chopped kielbasa, just like your babciu used to do.

• M. Eileen Brown is the Daily Herald's vice president of sales and marketing and an incurable soup-a-holic. She specializes in vegetarian soups and blogs at soupalooza.com/.

Pickle Soup

½ cup pearl barley

1½ teaspoons salt, more to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1½ cups chopped leeks, white and green part

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces brown mushrooms, chopped

Thyme

8 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, diced

1 cup diced carrots

¾ cup diced celery

1 medium turnip, peeled and diced

½ bunch green Swiss chard

1 wedge cabbage

1 medium bell pepper diced

½ cup fresh dill

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 cups vegetable broth

1 cup finely diced dill pickles plus pickle juice as needed

Freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the barley and put it in a large soup pot with 8 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer covered for 30 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and add chopped onion, cooking until translucent (about 10 minutes). Add chopped leeks and cook for another 10 minutes.

In another skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and stir in garlic. Cook for one minute. Add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of thyme. Saute until the liquid cooks away, about 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and turnip to the barley, along with a ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring the liquid back to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, wash and remove the tough stems off the chard and chop the leaves coarsely. Shred the cabbage into ½-inch strips.

Add the sauteed onion and leeks and the sauteed mushrooms to the soup, deglazing the pans with a bit of water. Stir in the chard, cabbage, bell pepper, dill, parsley and vegetable broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the pickles and simmer for 10 minutes more.

Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper. This soup will taste better the next day and even better, the next. If you want a more "pickley" flavor, add a few tablespoons of the juice.

Serves 10

Adapted from "Love Soup" by Anna Thomas