The month of May sure has unpredictable weather in Southern California! I just reorganized my clothes closet with all my winter stuff pushed to the back and then we get a rainy, cold snap! So... I put on a warm, cozy, sweatshirt and tried a new recipe for soup. I found this one in Ellie Krieger's cookbook, "The Food You Crave". It turned out so yummy, I just had to pass it along! It may be the last soup of the season but it was worth the wait! Enjoy!
Beef and Mushroom Barley Soup
- 6 servings
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 3/4 pound beef stew meat cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- Pinch of freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 teaspoons minced garlic in a jar
- 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
- One 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices
- 1/2 cup pearled barley
- 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions
- In a large frying pan, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle meat with the salt and pepper. Add the meat to the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a large crock pot.
- Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Add the onion, and minced garlic and cook for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat until onion is translucent. Do not burn garlic! Transfer to crock pot.
- To the crock pot, add carrots, celery, mushrooms, broth, tomatoes, barley, and thyme. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish each serving with a sprinkling of parsley.
Per Serving (1 1/2 cups): Calories: 275, Total fat:10g, Protein:25g, Carb: 22g, Fiber:5g, chol:26mg, Sodium:255mg. Pointsplus Value: 7.
