Beef-Barley Soup

This stew is soooo yummy! About a month ago, I made a double recipe of this for the first time and took it to a friend's house. We LOVED this soup and the yummy leftovers we had the following day. It's so hearty... and healthy!

Beef-Barley Soup
Cooking Light magazine, Nov. 2009
Makes: 4 servings (2 cups each)
Nutrition: 341 Calories, 11.4g Fat, 8.2 g. Fiber

3/4 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 c. thinly sliced carrot
1 1/2 c. thinly sliced celery
2/3 c. chopped onion
1 (8oz.) pkg. presliced mushrooms
4 c. fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1 bay leaf
2/3 c. uncooked pearl barley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove beef from pan.

2. Add carrot, celery, onion, and mushrooms to pan; cook 6 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add beef, beef broth, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

3. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occassionally. Stir in pearl barle; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until pearl barley is tender. Add salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf.

My Tips:
- I would only add half of the pepper at first, then add more to taste as 1/2 tsp. makes this soup a bit too peppery.
- You may need to simmer this for longer than 30 minutes after adding pearl barley as I found after 30 minutes it was still a bit too crunchy-ish for me.
- Or, make this soup the day before...the flavors only get better as they meld overnight in the refrigerator.