Beef Vegetable Barley Soup for cold winter dinners

My Homemade (no knead) Focaccia rocks with soup or stew or pasta

I've been making soup every week, and we never get bored with it.  Soup has many virtues:  cheap, easy, tasty, nutritious.  I found a good deal on "petite sirloin" at the supermarket, and used two of them, about a pound as the basis of a beef-vegetable-barley soup.
 Cut the meat into small bite-sized pieces, and brown well in canola oil.  I added a bit of onion and 3 cloves of smashed garlic and browned that, too. Add water and/or broth and cook until meat is tender.  Doesn't take long with sirloin.  Before cooking the meat add a soup bone, thyme, marjoram and a large bay leaf to the cooking liquid. 


When the meat is tender, add more onion, carrots, celery, and a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes.  I think some mushrooms would also go well.  Cook the veggies until almost tender and then add 3/4 cup barley.  My barley took longer to cook than the package indicated, so make sure to cook it long enough.  Add more water or broth (vegetable broth will do) if you are getting stew rather than soup.  Salt and pepper if you've used low-salt broth.  (I do).  Maybe a bit of paprika.  More spices?   Is the meat tender?   Correct seasonings, as they say.  I sprinkled some fresh parsley on it before serving, because we eat with our eyes first.


We ate this with a salad and multi-grain rolls.  Southern corn bread would work, as would garlic bread.  This is a cheap meal that offers a lot of nutrition.  We had chocolate chip cookies for dessert. 


Being snowed in, I find I'm watching a lot of TV.  The Good Wife, Big Love, and PBS are my current faves.   And the food show.  Guy Fieri really rocks. I loved his tailgaiting football eats show this week.


Tonight we're eating the remainder of the beef-barley soup.  With garlic bread.  And more salad.  And maybe a banana caflouti. 

We have a movie and the rest of The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency to watch. 

I'm saving $30 as we speak by washing some sweaters instead of sending them out at $5 bucks a pop.


Tomorrow we're having a gourmet diet recipe.  I know that sounds like an oxymoron.  It's a chicken pie that calls for a mashed potato topping instead of crust.  The potatoes are mashed with low-fat sour cream and chives.  I've made it before and you have no clue that this is a reduced calorie meal.  I think perhaps some cranberries would work as a side.  And the rest of the caflouti for dessert.  The pie calls for chicken breast,  shallots, mushrooms, carrots, celery and peas and parsley.  Low fat broth and white wine make the sauce.  Some herbs like thyme and tarragon, a spoonful of sherry and a sprinkle of nutmeg are added before baking.  This is Gourmet, remember.


Stay warm and dry and get creative if you are stuck in the house with weird or incomplete ingredients.  You may astonish yourself with the yummy eats you can concoct.  

Barley, a cheap nutricious food

This week I made herb-basted chicken and barley with root vegetable pilaf.  This was hearty fare that we got three meals out of with three (big) chicken breast halves.  Never expected to have it stretch so far for two people. 
I used onion, carrot, parsnips and butternut squash for the veggies and used about 2 cups instead of 1 1/2.  Used fresh thyme from the garden but substituted my own dried rosemary for fresh.  Stuck in a garlic clove for the hell of it.  The bacon really perked the barley up!  Root vegetables are cheap and the chicken breasts were on sale for a good price. 
A one pound bag of barley (did not by the fancy organic)  has a lot of mileage in it, and my next barley meal will be a vegetable beef soup with barley, also cheap with a lean cut of beef, more root vegetables and the barley, of course. 


In case you're salivating already, here is the recipe: Herb Basted Chicken with Pearl Barley, Bacon and Root Vegetable Pilaf



Winter demands hearty fare.  Soup is wonderful.  Eat more soup.