Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

     This has been a really crazy winter in terms of the weather. It was cold early, then very warm right before Christmas and then the Polar Vortex, with another one coming again this week.  

     When the freezing cold weather hits, all I want to do is to stay inside. And when I am inside, all I want to do is cook. It doesn't matter to me if I cook sweet or savory. If I make meals or desserts. Cooking or baking. When I am in the kitchen, I am happy.  

     So with this upcoming Polar Vortex, here is a great stick to your ribs soup. It will fill you up and warm you from the inside.  

     Please be sure to follow the directions of the barley that you use. This time I used Goya barley and it took 30 minutes to cook, but there is quick cook barley which only takes a few minutes.  Just take notice.

     I will give you my recipe, but feel free to substitute any vegetables that you like or have on hand.  I usually add fresh green beans, but didn't have any, so I used mushrooms instead. If you like peas or Lima beans (I don't) they would be perfect in here as well.  Experiment and have fun.

     This will make a nice big pot of soup and with the barley it gets thicker when leftover.  You could even thicken it up a bit more with some cornstarch and put it in a pie plate, top with a refrigerated pie crust and have a pot pie.  

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

2 TBSP canola oil

1 1/2-2 pounds stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup barley

6 cups beef stock 

3 cans stewed tomatoes (I used 1 can of Rotel)

3 stalks celery, chopped

5 carrots, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

5 large red potato, chopped 

1 green squash, chopped

1 lb green beans, chopped 

1 lb mushrooms, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp black pepper

1 TBSP Italian seasoning

juice of one lemon

In a large dutch oven brown the stew meat in the oil.  Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the rest of the veggies, stock, pepper, Italian seasoning and the lemon juice.  Bring to a boil,stir thoroughly to combine. Cover and turn down to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Add your barley and continue to cook until the barley is done.