Vegetable Beef Barley Soup Recipe

Preheat an 8-qt stockpot over medium heat. Add olive oil to the hot pot, then meat, onions and celery, seasoning lightly as you go. Brown meat in batches – if needed – to get a nice caramelization and thus some really great flavor.

When the meat is browned, add remaining ingredients, including the liquid from the canned veggies. Bring the pot to a boil, then adjust heat to medium low.

Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adjusting seasonings. This is a soup with quite a rich broth. Add the water/soup base liquid, as needed.

During the last half hour of cooking, add the Burgundy.

Serve with crackers, corn chips, cornbread, biscuits, or a good French baguette. Yeast dinner rolls ain’t half bad, either.

NOTES:

●If using canned goods containing salt in the liquid, be sure to adjust the seasoning accordingly.

●Chilies and thick stews are excellent served in bread “bowls”. Use a round hollowed out, 8- to 9-oz rye or pumpernickel loaf for each person if the soup is the main course, or a recipe of cornbread batter, divided into 4 individual serving size ovenproof baking dishes and baked and hollowed out. Otherwise for appetizers, use a biscuit dough recipe divided in 6 parts, shaped over the sprayed undersides of a jumbo muffin tin and baked for 10-12 minutes at 450F deg.