Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

MamaJ's Note:

I got this recipe from Epicurious and modified it to suit my family's taste. Once a week during the fall and winter I have "soup night" and invite friends and family. This is one of our favorites. I usually just serve it with homemade wheat bread. It is perfect cold weather comfort food. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 -1 1/2 lb stew meat
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup barley (not quick cooking)
• 4 cups water
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 2 cups carrots, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1 1/2-2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven.
2. Add meat, season with salt and pepper and saute until dark brown. (About 8 minutes).
3. Remove beef and set aside.
4. Add celery, onions and barley to pan and saute until onion is golden (about 15 minutes).
5. Add water, broth, tomatoes, corn carrots, bay leaves, and garlic.
6. Return beef to pot and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to med/low and simmer uncovered one hour.
8. Add peas and hot pepper sauce.
9. Cover and simmer 30 more minutes.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper and additional hot sauce if desired.
11. Serve.
12. Wait for the compliments.

Reviews

[stinkin rose]

We liked this soup. Very easy to put together although I did cook my barley separate and added it at the end. I also added extra veggies - mushrooms and green beans along with some Italian seasoning. I skipped the hot sauce because the soup had a nice flavor without.

[Mmm..Spaghetti]

This recipe was really good! I also doubled the barley but forgot to add extra water. It turned out more like a stew but it was delish! Next time I make this I will decrease the hot sauce to 1 tsp as this was just a tad too spicy for my family. Thanks for the great recipe!

[PsychNurse]

Hubby said he wanted Beef Barley Soup for supper so I tried this one and he said it tasted better than he had anticipated! I decided to add more barley as 1/4 cup didn't seem like much. I also added 4 additional cups of water and omitted the "beef broth" using about 2-3 tsp. of beef soup base instead. I did not allow the peas to cook, as I wanted them firm and omitted the pepper sauce as we have little ones.