BEEF, BARLEY AND MUSHROOM SOUP

Soup cooling off in the pressure cooker pot.

It is getting to be soup weather with the nip in the air and close to the freezing mark in the early morning hours. I don't need excuses to make soup as it is almost a weekly event in my kitchen. In one area of my freezer I have multiple bags of leftover cooked veggies, rice, chopped chicken, turkey and roast beef and chopped herbs from the garden. These are saved for adding to future soups. With that in mind and knowing I need to use those frozen packages, I took out a package of chopped roast beef which was about one and half cups. There was a large container of fresh mushrooms from Costco in the fridge so the decision was obvious - beef, barley and mushroom soup.

If you want to make this soup vegetarian, you can leave out the chopped roast beef and use vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Some people like to add potatoes to this soup but I decided to use one cup of pot barley which would provide enough heartiness. You can also use pearl barley instead of pot barley. 

The directions provided below are for making the soup on the stove. I used an electric pressure cooker instead and used the sauté feature before cooking it for 18 minutes under medium high pressure. 

This soup will be a welcomed meal for lunches over the coming week.

Garlic, onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms sautéing.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced
8 cups of beef broth or water
1 cup barley, pearl or pot
1 to 2 cups of leftover roast beef, chopped

1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS: 
Heat the oil on medium heat in a large pot. Add onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms and garlic and sauté for about five minutes until softened. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer, covered with the lid for an hour. You can simmer the soup longer if desired. If the soup is too thick, add a bit of water. Adjust seasonings if required. Makes about 8 to 10 servings.