Well here we are, officially into the fourth day of spring. The wind is howling and grey skies are threatening even more snow. At least Glenn and I have the comforting aroma of a good beef & Barley soup bubbling gently on the stove. Yesterday Glenn put together a tasty Beef Bone Broth which spent the better part of the day simmering into a deep brown stock. This morning I used this broth to make the soup we’ll soon be having for lunch. It’s a mighty fine antidote for the not-quite-warm-weather-yet blues.

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 cooking onion, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 lb beef simmering steak cut into small cubes
• 1 litre Glenn’s Good Beef Stock
• ¼ C pearl barley
• 1 large carrot, diced
• ½ C turnip diced
• 2 C shredded cabbage
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Directions

1. Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat and add the onions and celery. Sauté until the onion & celery soften and the onion begins to become translucent.
2. Add the beef steak cubes and continue to sauté until the cubes are no longer pink.
3. Now simply add the rest of the ingredients, turn the heat up under the pot until the soup comes to the boiling point and then quickly reduce the heat to a point where the soup is just simmering nicely.
4. Allow the soup to simmer for 1 hour until the vegetables are soft, the barley is cooked and the flavours have all blended nicely. Adjust the seasoning with salt & pepper to taste.