Wednesday: Beef-Barley Soup

I already have some left-over chuck roast in the freezer, so I'm kind of cheating here.  However, you can usually find chuck for about $3.99 per pound.  Since you are only using 3/4 lb in the recipe, you can just freeze the rest for another day and stick to the $2.41 per person price.  An easy dish to make and simple ingredients.  

Beef-Barley Soup (recipe from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 3/4 pound 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 fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2/3 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

• 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. Add carrot, celery, onion, and mushrooms to pan; cook 6 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add beef; fat-free, less-sodium 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.