JeffreyW makes mouths water with this photo of his Beef and Barley Soup (with bonus foccacia recipe here)

It has been unseasonably cold here. Today was the first day that I could actually open the windows. So soup seemed like a good idea over the weekend. Chuck roast was on sale for the amazing price of $2.99 lb. So I bought several large pieces, cut them up to dinner size and a couple pounds up for soup and stew. First up was this soup.

Beef & Barley Vegetable Soup

• olive oil
• 1 lb chuck, cut into small cubes
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 8 cups of water (or water and vegetable broth**)
• 12 oz sliced carrots (frozen ok)
• 12 oz green beans (frozen ok)
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 to 1 tsp salt (more as desired)
• 2 bay leaves (remove before serving)

large saucepan

Heat oil in saucepan, sauté onions for 1 minute, add beef and brown on all sides, add garlic and sauté for 1 minute making sure not to burn the garlic. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a low boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until barley is tender.  Serve with biscuits or cornbread.

**For vegetable broth,  I blend the tomatoes, and an additional 6 oz of carrots, 6 oz of green beans, 2 stalks of the celery, 1 cup water into a smooth puree, to make a hearty base for the soup.  I like the hearty stock.

Yum.

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