How to make the best healthy, homemade beef barley soup

Brown beef in a small amount of olive oil in a 5.5 quart Dutch oven.

If you want to use mushrooms in your soup, cook them before you add them. These are shiitake mushrooms sliced and sautéed.

Here are the cut up vegetables.

Cook the beef until it is brown on all sides.

Spoon the beef out of the pot and set it aside.

Add the chopped vegetables to the sauce that remained after browning the beef.

Let the vegetables cook until they are soft. About 10 minutes.

You may add about a cup of wine.

Add spices to your taste.

Let the spices simmer with the vegetables.

Add the beef to the vegetable mixture.

Add the sage and bay leaf.

Add beef broth.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Continue to cook the beef, vegetables and spices. Bring all to a boil.

Cover the soup and remove from heat.

Place the covered pot in a 300° oven.

Cook the soup in the oven for 4 hours.

When the soup is removed from the oven, it may be dry.

Remove tied sage and bay leaves.

Add 4 cups of water and let it rest.

Results of adding water.

When the soup is removed from the oven, cook the pearl barley in a separate pot. Follow the directions on the package.

Pearl barley cooking separately.

Add cooked pearl barley to the soup.

Stir until pearl barley is incorporated. Keep soup on low to medium heat, if necessary, to keep warm.

Enjoy with a slice of homemade bread.