Quick Beef & Barley Soup

Ingredients

• Beef top sirloin

  Steak, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 0" fat, choice, cooked, broiled

  8 oz or 227g

• Pepper

  Spices, white

  ½ tsp, ground or 1g

• Olive oil

  Salad or cooking

  4 tsp or 18g

• Onions

  Raw

  1 medium or 110g

• Celery

  Raw

  1 stalks, large (11 inches long) or 64g

• Carrots

  Raw

  1 large or 72g

• Tomato paste

  Canned, without salt added

  2 tbsp or 32g

• Thyme

  Fresh

  1 tbsp or 2g

• Barley

  Pearled, raw

  ¾ cup or 150g

• Beef stock

  Soup, home-prepared

  4 cup or 960g

• Water

  Plain, clean water

  1 cup or 237g

• Salt

  Table

  ¼ tsp or 2g

• Vinegar

  Cider

  1 tsp or 5g

Directions

1. Sprinkle steak with 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the steak and cook, stirring often, until browned on all sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil, onion and celery to the pot and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add carrot and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more. Add tomato paste and thyme and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are coated with the tomato paste and are beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add barley, broth, water, salt and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer; cook until the barley is tender, about 15 minutes. Return the beef and any accumulated juice to the pot and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vinegar to taste.
4. (source: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250200/quick-beef-barley-soup/)