Beef and barley soup

Beef and barley soup features two local Ontario ingredients: barley and beef, and is high in fibre!

Barley is often added to food like soup because it is a great source of additional fibre (1/2 cup of cooked pearled barley contains 2.0 grams of fibre). In a healthy diet, kids 1-8 years old require 19 grams of fibre per day, and kids 4-8 years old need 25 grams per day – so whatever you can do to get some fibre in your diet helps you to have a healthy balanced diet.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup carrots (chopped)
• 1 cup onions (chopped)
• 1 cup celery (chopped)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 cups stewing beef (finely chopped)
• 6 cups water
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• ½ cup dry pearl barley
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot, cook onions, celery and carrots with the butter. Once the onions and celery are tender, about 6-8 minutes, stir in the beef.
2. Cook, stirring often, until the beef is cooked. This should take another 6-8 minutes.
3. Add the water, beef broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and stir in the remaining ingredients including the barley.
4. Let the soup cook at a low rolling boil for 30-45 minutes. The barley should be fully cooked and the beef should be tender.