Happy New Year! I made this Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup today because the weather has been really cold here in San Diego county. It’s an easy soup with lots of flavor and healthy vegetables. I’ve been craving the rich beefy flavor of my mother’s homemade soup as we were growing up in Vermont.
This isn’t my mother’s recipe exactly, because I made it up as I went along, but it’s really good! I could remember how she browned the meat, chopped up the veggies, and used good beef stock for flavor. Lots of happy memories came back as I chopped veggies, added the herbs, and smelled the aroma as it cooked.
We ate some as soon as it was done…nice and hot!
Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup
A hearty soup with lots of flavor. Serve with crusty bread or healthy crackers.
Servings 12
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 3 LBS Lean stew beef
- 4 Stalks Celery Chopped
- 4 Large carrots Sliced
- 1 Large onion Chopped
- 2 Leeks Chopped
- 1/2 Cup Red wine
- 1 Can Beef Consomee soup
- 1 Tablespoon Freeze-dried thyme
- 2 Teaspoons Ground margoram
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Tablespoon Chopped garlic
- 8 Ounces Crimini mushrooms Sliced
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato paste
- 2. 32 oz containers Beef stock or bone broth No msg, gluten free
- 1 Cup Pearl barley
- 1 Large russet potato Peeled and diced
- 1 Cup Green beans Cut into small pieces
Instructions
- In a large soup pot (I use cast iron), brown the stew beef pieces in the olive oil. Add the carrots, onion, leeks, red wine, beef consomee, thyme, margoram, bay leaf, garlic, and mushrooms. Cover and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove from oven. Stir in the tomato paste and beef stock, bring to a boil on top of the stove. Add the barley, potato, and green beans. Simmer until barley, green beans, and potato are done, about 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
January 2, 2019 at 8:46 pm
Sounds delicious Mimi! It’s cold here too! I’m actually enjoying it =)
January 3, 2019 at 8:37 am
Isn’t cold weather great? I love it too…as long as the avocado trees don’t freeze.
January 2, 2019 at 9:28 pm
Hi Mimi!
Great to get an email from you! I was just thinking about you the other day when I picked our first avocados for the season! Thanks for all that you do! Visiting the farm is on my list of things to do so I can meet you! Keep being the wonderful person you are and Happiest New Year for you and your loved ones!
January 3, 2019 at 8:38 am
Tammie, thank you! Let me know if you’re in the area … the last year or two have brought some challenges that just aren’t shareable on the blog…but I’d love to meet you too!
January 3, 2019 at 9:16 am
I am thrilled to receive your post as I have been missing them. The “Mimi’s Mom’s Hearty Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup” is being printed out as I write this. I am in Western NY and it is cold – after all winter is here. Perfect soup weather.
January 3, 2019 at 10:26 am
Hi Donna, So nice to hear from you. I remember well how cold it could get in NY state. I lived in Potsdam, NY while I was in college and then worked there for a couple of years. I think it was winter of 1977 when they closed down the county and told us to stay home or we’d be arrested! Blizzard! I moved to Ca for for grad school in June of that year. Now I enjoy the cold weather because I actually miss my wool clothes and hearty winter foods. At least we get a few weeks of colder weather every year, just hoping that the avocado trees do not freeze. So far we’re okay this year. Thanks for commenting!
March 12, 2019 at 1:48 pm
Yum! i am new to avocado growing if my tree is flowering now do i have to wait a year for them to be full grown ?
April 6, 2019 at 10:11 am
The flowers will soon become tiny baby fruits. They will grow and size up. Then the oil content will begin to increase until they are mature enough to soften when picked. In California the state determines when each variety is mature enough to harvest. However, for maximum flavor, usually it takes several more months for the oil to be high enough for flavor to be the best. Yes, it takes about a year from flower to mature fruit.
March 14, 2019 at 5:36 am
Hello. Looks delicious. Definitely on my “must dry” list. Probably it is Ok to use dried ingredients instead of fresh ones (if I am out of fresh ones) – like mushrooms.
This soup might be something that even kids eat:)
Thank you for the recipe.