Friday, January 28, 2011

BEEF BARLEY SOUP

During the winter months I make soup at least once a week. Our favorite soups are those that can do double-duty as an entree. This hearty soup is all that and more. The recipe is from my new Cooking Light Easy Winter Recipes magazine/cookbook. At $12 I wasn't sure it would live up to my expectations, but happily it has.

Yields 4 (two cup) servings
cooking spray
3/4 lb boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 (8 oz) pkg. sliced mushrooms
4 cups fat free, lower sodium beef broth
1 bay leaf
2/3 cup uncooked pearl barley
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan and cook for 4 minutes or until nicely browned on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add carrot, celery, onion, and mushrooms to pan and cook 6 minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated. Add beef, broth, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in pearl barley, cover, and simmer 30 minutes more, until pearl barley is tender. Stir in salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf. Serve immediately or add more beef broth when you serve.
N.I.: 341 cal; 11.4 g fat; 24.1 g protein; 36.2 g carb; 8.2 g fiber; 837 g sodium
*****************************************************
TASTE NOTES
The very generous portion of soup was greatly appreciated because it was simply wonderful! The pearl barley soaked up all the flavors of the broth and beef. The vegetables provided a delicate sweetness. A few slices of a good semolina loaf grilled in my panini press made this the perfect cold weather dinner. I could easily have made it again the following week if I hadn't had a few bags of beans in the pantry.

11 comments:

  1. I love beef barley soup, Arlene. It's perfect to warm up with during this cold and snowy weather. I'd like to try this recipe in my crock pot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. if you were closer you would have to heat this one up for breakfast! I love this hearty soup its looks fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh so yummy, i love the barley in there!

    i think it's called fontal polenta because of the fontal, or fontina cheese in it. i've never even heard of fontal cheese, so i just used fontina.

    have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so glad you posted this - because I have been yearning for beef barley soup all week and here you are with a recipe ready to go. This just calms and soothes my winter soul.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks wonderful Arlene! Thanks for posting the recipe too...this sounds like something we'll love!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Arlene! I was looking for a barley recipe, my last attempt was very watery. Yours look hearty and lots of great vegetable. I have to try yours out. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a wonderful cold weather soup. Yours looks delicious and will definitely help to beat back the gray Oregon winter. I hope you have a great day, Arlene. Blessings...Mary

    ReplyDelete
  8. Arlene--a very homey and comforting soup that looks delicious. Any time you want to join in Souper Sundays--just let me know so I can include you in the round up.

    Have a great week!

    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a wonderful soup!!!!Love barley....This sounds comforting!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Arlene :)
    This recipe sounds wonderful and I will be giving it a try this weekend...Beef Barley soup is definitely one of my favorites...thanks for sharing :)
    I would also like to thank you for stopping by my blog...If you have any questions or anything you would like to share about your CW block don't hesitate to get in touch, I would be more than happy to help you if need be... I was not able to reply to your comment, your email address was not included :(
    Hope to hear from you again and kudos to you concerning your blog, it's great!
    Tam
    PS the guild sounds interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love beef soup but I never tried it with barley before. But I think I’m gonna try it soon.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting The Food of Love. I know it takes time to make a comment, but please know that they are very much appreciated.