Beef Barley Soup

This is one of the best things I have cooked in a long time.  It was delicious!  I clipped it from Cooking Light a few years ago, put it in my recipe binder, but never gave it a second look.  The other day I was browsing recipes and noticed that I already had most of the ingredients, except for the beef and the barley - so I tried it and I'm so glad I did!



3/4 lb boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
4 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
2/3 cup uncooked pearl barley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot 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.  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.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally.  Stir in pearl barley; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until pearl barley is tender.  Stir in salt and pepper.  Discard bay leaf. 

*The smallest cut of roast I could find was 1 1/2 lbs, so I doubled the recipe.  It took about 20 minutes, rather than 6 minutes, for the liquid to evaporate with the vegetables.