Beef and Barley Soup

Took some time off for the holidays! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend time with their families. Down here in Florida it has not been a cool Fall (if you could really call it Fall, more like Summer part 2), but lately it has started to be cooler so I figured I could make a nice soup to go along the 60-70 degree days.

Ingredients 

1 1/2 pound chuck roast
1 bay leaf
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
4 cups of water
4 beef bullion cubes
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 (14 oz) can of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of barley, cooked
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper






Directions

1. Season roast with salt and pepper. Place meat in a slow cooker set on high, add a 1/2 cup of water, 1 bay leaf, and cook for 2 1/2-3 hours (or until the meat is tender).
2. Remove meat and turn off the slow cooker, chop the meat into small pieces (pulling the meat works too). Reserve the broth in the slow cooker but remove the bay leaf.
3. In a soup pot, add olive oil and turn up to medium-high heat, add in onions and cook for 3 minutes (be sure to add a pinch of salt). Next, add in the carrots and celery and continue cooking until onions are soft (total about 5-6 minutes).
4. Add water, bullion cubes, sugar, ground pepper, diced tomatoes, beef, and barley to the pot and turn up to high heat.
5. Before the soup begins to boil, add the reserved liquid from the slow cooker, once boiling begins turn the heat down to simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes (be sure to check if vegetables are soft).
6. While cooking, be sure to skim some of the fat that comes to the top, due to using the dripping from the cooker there will be a good bit of it. If you leave it or mix it in the soup will have a greasiness to it that might turn off some tasters. 
7. Be sure to taste for seasoning, keep it simple with salt and pepper, the soup should have a bit of sweetness to it due to the sugar.

We made tonight a soup and salad night so this went great with a Caesar Salad. As you can see with our table cloth the holidays are here so be safe out there with all those crazy sale shoppers :)