Family Dinner: Beef Barley Soup and Artisan Rosemary Black Pepper Bread

This meal is hearty.  I love making soups in the fall, they are easy, nutritious, healthy, comforting, and filling. (let's see how many adjectives I can fit in there, shall we?)  Beef Barley is a favorite among the tots.  This makes a big pot, so there is plenty of leftovers for lunches throughout the week, or enough to freeze and save for another meal down the road.  It is gets a little thick, so I guess it might be more of a stew than a soup, but you can thin it out to whatever consistency you want using more broth.  The other great thing about this soup is that it is easy to adjust to your tastes.  Want different/more/less vegetables?  Go ahead, switch it up.  It is really almost fool-proof.  I did not take a picture of the soup, I figured soup is something we all kind of know, and frankly, I don't have the photography skills to make it look as good as it tastes.

The bread.  While I wouldn't consider this "healthy," (it is bread after all), it isn't terrible in moderation.  And it tastes amazing, so I think it is worth it.  You can adjust this to your own tastes, adding whatever herbs, cheeses, or flavors you want.  I think the rosemary is a nice complement to the beef soup, though.  Making my own bread is something that I just started attempting this year. It seemed so daunting to me in the past, but it turns out it is actually fairly easy.  The amount of actual effort is minimal, you just have to allow plenty of time to let is rise.  For this recipe, I used my enamel Dutch oven, if you don't have one, I think any oven proof pan with a lid should work.

Beef Barley Soup
Serves 12, about 1 1/2 cup per serving
215 cals/5g fat/27g carbs/23g protein

2 lbs lean beef, such as top round, all the fat trimmed off, cut into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 lb celery, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb green beans, cut into pieces
6 cups 99% fat-free beef broth
4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cup uncooked medium pearled barley

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray.  Add beef pieces, and cook until browned, 3-5 minutes.  Add garlic, celery, and carrots, cook an additional 3 minutes.  Add onions and cook until starting to soften, 3-5 minutes.  Add broth, water, salt, pepper, and bay leaves, stirring up any brown bits on the bottom.  Bring to simmer, add green beans and barley, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer ~1-2 hours.

Rosemary Cracked Black Pepper Artisan Bread
Serves 16
165 cals/6g fat/23g carbs/3g protein

1 cup warm water
3 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp kosher salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick melted butter
4 TB chopped fresh rosemary
1 TB fresh cracked black pepper

Add the water and the sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (you can do this by hand, but it will take you forevvvvvveeeerrrr). Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water and let it get foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the flour, chopped herbs, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Mix until dough is smooth, stretchy, and pulled into a ball, about 5-6 minutes. Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray, cover with plastic wrap and let rise, 4-6 hours. Lightly knead dough, reshaping into a round loaf shape if necessary, cover, and allow to rise again, 30-60 min. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425. Place empty dutch oven with lid on bottom rack and allow to heat at least 30 min. Take finished dough, plop it into hot Dutch oven, immediately cover with lid and return to oven. Bake for 25 min, removing lid for last 5 min for a browner crust, if preferred.

(Fact: typing Dutch oven this many times has made me giggle like a 13 year-old boy. Maturity at its highest here, folks.)

This meal is hearty.  I love making soups in the fall, they are easy, nutritious, healthy, comforting, and filling. (let's see how many adjectives I can fit in there, shall we?)  Beef Barley is a favorite among the tots.  This makes a big pot, so there is plenty of leftovers for lunches throughout the week, or enough to freeze and save for another meal down the road.  It is gets a little thick, so I guess it might be more of a stew than a soup, but you can thin it out to whatever consistency you want using more broth.  The other great thing about this soup is that it is easy to adjust to your tastes.  Want different/more/less vegetables?  Go ahead, switch it up.  It is really almost fool-proof.  I did not take a picture of the soup, I figured soup is something we all kind of know, and frankly, I don't have the photography skills to make it look as good as it tastes.

The bread.  While I wouldn't consider this "healthy," (it is bread after all), it isn't terrible in moderation.  And it tastes amazing, so I think it is worth it.  You can adjust this to your own tastes, adding whatever herbs, cheeses, or flavors you want.  I think the rosemary is a nice complement to the beef soup, though.  Making my own bread is something that I just started attempting this year. It seemed so daunting to me in the past, but it turns out it is actually fairly easy.  The amount of actual effort is minimal, you just have to allow plenty of time to let is rise.  For this recipe, I used my enamel Dutch oven, if you don't have one, I think any oven proof pan with a lid should work.

Beef Barley Soup
Serves 12, about 1 1/2 cup per serving
215 cals/5g fat/27g carbs/23g protein

2 lbs lean beef, such as top round, all the fat trimmed off, cut into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 lb celery, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb green beans, cut into pieces
6 cups 99% fat-free beef broth
4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cup uncooked medium pearled barley

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray.  Add beef pieces, and cook until browned, 3-5 minutes.  Add garlic, celery, and carrots, cook an additional 3 minutes.  Add onions and cook until starting to soften, 3-5 minutes.  Add broth, water, salt, pepper, and bay leaves, stirring up any brown bits on the bottom.  Bring to simmer, add green beans and barley, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer ~1-2 hours.

Rosemary Cracked Black Pepper Artisan Bread
Serves 16
165 cals/6g fat/23g carbs/3g protein

1 cup warm water
3 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp kosher salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick melted butter
4 TB chopped fresh rosemary
1 TB fresh cracked black pepper

Add the water and the sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (you can do this by hand, but it will take you forevvvvvveeeerrrr). Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water and let it get foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the flour, chopped herbs, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Mix until dough is smooth, stretchy, and pulled into a ball, about 5-6 minutes. Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray, cover with plastic wrap and let rise, 4-6 hours. Lightly knead dough, reshaping into a round loaf shape if necessary, cover, and allow to rise again, 30-60 min. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425. Place empty dutch oven with lid on bottom rack and allow to heat at least 30 min. Take finished dough, plop it into hot Dutch oven, immediately cover with lid and return to oven. Bake for 25 min, removing lid for last 5 min for a browner crust, if preferred.

(Fact: typing Dutch oven this many times has made me giggle like a 13 year-old boy. Maturity at its highest here, folks.)