Hearty Beef Barley Soup

It is still very cold in these parts, and snowed again a little bit yesterday.  When it's cold outside I hibernate inside where it's warm and cozy.  So on that note, it was a great day to make a pot of soup and I got to work in my kitchen.  My kitchen is my favorite place to be, it's my fun, creative play space! 

I had all of the ingredients for my soup in my pantry, I keep everything stocked up at home.  There is one thing that bothers me most when I'm cooking, if I need an ingredient, I don't have it, and I have to stop what I'm doing and run to the store and get it.  Puts a damper on cooking.

I do have to say my soup did turn out fabulous! I served it up with a crusty sourdough bread. The hubby was in love all over again and enjoyed every last spoonful of my tasty winter meal.

Recipe Below.

A few simple ingredients for a wonderful hearty soup.

I dusted my beef with a little flour to thicken the soup a bit.

Brown the meat in olive oil.

Looking good.

Beef broth in along with my veggies.

Thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper gives a special flavor to my soup.

Medium grain barley. 

No pre-cook on the barley, just drop it in the soup and let it cook in there.

And there it is, the tastiest bowl of winter soup I have had in a long time.  It's filling, warms you and the belly and is also good for you, what more could you ask for.  ENJOY!

Hearty Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 lbs beef cubes, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 32 oz. containers beef broth, can also use stock, I use low salt

2 large carrots, diced

2 large stalks celery, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained, can use fresh if you like

3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons thyme

3 large bay leaves

2/3 cup barley

Instructions

Heat oil over medium high heat in a large Dutch oven.  In a resealable bag add the beef, flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Shake the bag until all the meat is coated.  Add meat to the heated oil in the Dutch oven.  Brown the meat until all sides are seared.  Add the beef broth, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, thyme and bay leaves.  Cover and simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Stir in the barley and cook for another 30 minutes until the barley is tender.  Serve with a crusty bread. 

 

Lots of Lentils

I've eaten a lot of different kinds of food in my life, by never had lentils.  Now, since my vegan in the house doesn't eat anything from an animal, I have to improvise when making food.   So I chose lentils, a great source of fiber and protein, to make Lentil Soup.  I had to figure out how to make it, played around with a few ingredients and VOILA!  I made a delicious easy soup.

This soup is very easy to make, it uses inexpensive ingredients, and the house smells so good while it's cooking.  Serve it with a crusty loaf of Italian bread or whole grain bread, to sop up all those tasty juices, or a few toasted croutons on top, and don't forget the grated cheese if you like.

Some of my ingredients, clean up the celery and peel the carrots.

 Mince the garlic, slice the celery and dice the carrots. Add it all to your Dutch oven or soup pot.

 Add salt, pepper and cumin, stir it all up.....

 .....and saute veggies until somewhat tender.  Then add the lentils and cook for a few minutes.

 I always use stock in my soups, instead of broth.  It costs a few pennies more, but worth it in flavor.
  Add a few bay leaves.....

 .....and stir them in.

Toss in a few sprigs of fresh thyme, you can throw stems and all in, just remove the stems and bay leaves before serving.

 The soup is lookin' good and the aroma is even better.

I use fresh spinach when I have it, I snip off the long stems, toss it in.....

 ......stir and the heat does the rest.

Soup's ready!

Homemade Vegan Lentil Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 celery stalks with leaves, sliced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups dried lentils

2 - 32 oz boxes vegetable stock

3 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried

2 cups fresh spinach or 1 box thawed of frozen spinach wrung dry

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot on medium - high heat. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, onion, cumin salt and pepper.  Stir together and saute until the veggies are tender and slightly browned. Add the lentils, stir them in and cook for 3 minutes, stirring as they are cooking.  Stir in the stock, bay leaves and thyme.  Reduce heat to medium and let the soup cook for 35 - 45 minutes.  In the last 20 minutes add the spinach and let it cook down.  You may or may not need to add water as the lentils expand and thicken the soup.  If you do add water be careful, add a little at a time you don't want to water down the flavor. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs before serving.

Serve with a crusty Italian bread, whole grain bread or seasoned croutons on top.  Makes 6 -8 servings.

Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Another frigid day here in the eastern part of the country, it's only 3 degrees, YIKES!  I think this is great homemade soup weather, no matter how you slice it.  Today I gave mushroom soup a try, took some basic ingredients and put a twist on them to make this delicious Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup.  Recipe below.
  To print recipe, click, highlight and print.

Some basics and a few things to turn up the volume of the soup a little bit!  It's the Sherry baby!

Melt the cup of butter, this makes the broth rich tasting.

Dice the onion, mince the garlic and cook them both in the butter.

Now I got a little crazy and decided to roast the mushrooms, portobellos are meaty so it's easy to do.  Cut up any really big mushrooms, season them with salt and pepper, drizzle on a little olive oil and toss together. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Onions and garlic are tender, throw in some thyme, bay leaf and a little nutmeg, yes that's right just a little.  I also made my roux to thicken the soup. I scooped 3/4 cup of flour into a bowl then ladled just enough of the butter from the pot into the flour, to mix it into a paste.  

Toss back into the pot and whisk it into the remaining butter mixture.

It will become creamy like this with no lumps.

Add the stock, sherry and cream, and using an immersion (stick) blender, or a blender (but be sure to run hot water in the blender before putting anything hot into it so it doesn't shatter!)  Blend all together, so the broth is smooth.

When the mushrooms are done I strain them in a colander so the juice doesn't thin the soup.  Toss about 2/3 of them in the pot and reserve the rest.

Take that immersion blender again and smooth out some of those mushrooms.  When you are done, toss the remaining mushrooms in and leave them whole. 

Delicious, flavorful, creamy and rich Portobello Mushroom Soup.

Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

3 big cloves garlic, minced

5 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup flour

3 lbs Sliced Baby Bella Portobello Mushrooms (3 - 16 oz containers)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 - 32 oz containers vegetable stock

1/3 cup dry sherry, leave it out if you don't like it

1 - 32 oz container of heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the two sticks of butter.  Add the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and nutmeg.  Cook until tender but not brown.

In the meantime, spread the mushrooms out on a large baking sheet and season with salt and pepper, toss with the olive oil.  Roast in oven for 20 - 25 minutes until browned. Remove from oven and drain in a colander to drain all the juices.

Add the flour to a medium bowl and ladle some of the butter mixture from the soup pot into the bowl.  Mix enough into the flour to make a roux.  Add back into the soup pot and whisk it into the remaining butter until there are no lumps and it becomes smooth.

Take out the bay leaves and discard.  Add  vegetable stock, sherry and cream to the pot and stir until all is combined.  With an immersion blender or blender, blend until the broth is smooth.  Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.  You will have to continue stirring the soup so it does not stick. When the soup boils, reduce heat to a low simmer for 40-45 minutes, uncovered, stir it occasionally. 

Add 2/3 of the roasted mushrooms to the pot and with the immersion blender, chop them up. Toss in the remaining mushrooms, but leave them whole.  Cook for another 30 minutes, or until the soup thickens.

Makes about 12 servings.