Beef Stew

One of my all time favorites is beef barley soup. I don't eat beef often but sometimes I crave the flavor and I know the B-12 found in beef is good for me. Combining it with a variety of colorful root veggies produces the most wonderful sweet and savory + healthy lunch or dinner. In addition to its fiber, barley is also a good source of niacin a B vitamin that provides numerous protective actions against cardiovascular risk factors. Eating a serving of whole grains, such as barley, at least 6 times each week is a good idea, especially for postmenopausal women with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other signs of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
If you prefer not to eat beef this soup would be great with lamb, chicken or turkey.

Ingredients

Beef Stew

1 pound stew beef, cut into small cubes

3 teaspoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon or a bit more flour

1 cup small diced white onion

(1 cup small diced peeled parsnips

1 cup small diced golden beets

1 cup peeled carrot, small diced

½ cup celery small diced

6 - 8 white button or cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

8 cups low sodium beef or chicken broth-cold or room temp

1 or 2 cubes of high quality beef base

1/2 cup pearl barley

water as needed

I sprig fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method

You can prepare this in a slow cooker if you have one. Just add everything to your cooker once you've browned the meat.

1. Heat a large skillet or pan-non-stick is easiest to clean-with 2 Tbls. olive oil.
Before adding the meat be sure that it is dry or you'll end up steaming the meat rather than browning it.

2. Add as much of the meat to the pan as will cover the bottom with no overlap of pieces. Again this will ensure that the meat browns and browning, or caramelizing, adds flavor.

3. Don't move the meat until one side is nicely browned. Then quickly add some salt and pepper and toss or stir the meat so it flips to another side. This does not have to be exact, just sauté the pieces til they are more or less all browned.

4. If you have meat left to do, sprinkle this batch with a bit of the flour, stir until the meat absorbs it, then remove meat to the pot you'll be cooking in.

5. Clean the pan with a paper towel, add the remaining oil, let it get hot and put in the last batch of meat. Repeat the above process.

6. Pour in the broth and barley. Stir well to move any pieces off the bottom.

7. Allow this to come to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

8. At this point you can add the vegetables, thyme, beef base. Stir, turn up the heat, bring to a boil again, lower temp and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

9. Taste it after 30 minutes to see if the seasoning is right. If you want more salt, pepper or other dried herbs add them now.

Beef, Roots and Barley Soup

Gregory Anne Cox is a professional chef and certified life coach who has been dishing up all you can eat servings of wellness information for 15 years. At midlife everything shifts and the mind and body changes that follow can be frustrating. Enter The Smart Woman's Mind and Body Tune Up, Gregory Anne's writings, recipes and seminars are designed to provide tips, tools, sound information and a healthy dose of humor to help women feel good, stay in shape, and create their best next half.

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