Beef Barley Soup with veggies & mushrooms

4 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 lb Beef steak or stew meat, lean, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 tsp Sea Salt, fine
1/4 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 medium yellow Onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups total)
8 ounces Mushrooms, Fresh, White Button, sliced or diced
2 Carrots, fresh, medium sized, diced (about 1 cup)
2 stalks of celery raw, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves Garlic, raw, minced (2 tsp minced in jar is fine too)
6 cup Beef broth, bouillon, consomme, low sodium is best
canned diced tomatoes with the juice, 14.5 ounce can
1/2 cup Barley, pearled, raw
3 tsp Thyme, fresh & coarsely chopped, or 1 tsp dried
1/4 cup flat leaf Parsley, chopped

Heat 2 teaspoons of EVOO in a big skillet over medium-high heat. Dry off meat with paper towels & sprinkle with salt & pepper. Then add the meat to skillet, browning on all sides. (about 5-7 minutes) Transfer to 5-6 quart dutch or french oven on stove, or slow cooker. Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to skillet. Add onion, & cook, stirring often until it begins to soften. (about 4 minutes) Stir in garlic & cook another minute or two. Scrape mixture out of skillet into French oven. Add a bit of the beef broth to de-glaze the pan & get all of those browned bits for the soup, and add to French oven. Add the carrots, mushrooms, celery, broth, barley, tomatoes, & thyme to the French oven, stirring to blend. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until veggies are soft, barley is cooked, and soup has thickened a bit, stirring occasionally to keep barley from sticking to bottom. If using a slow cooker, cook on high 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper , then ladle into bowls. Garnish with parsley if wanted. Serve with a nice, warm crusty bread, croutons, or crackers. Enjoy!

Serving Size: Serves 6-8

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user VAGIRL2004.