Beef Vegetable Rice (or Barley) Soup

Heat a large pot on high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add one layer of beef chunks to the pan. Make sure the chunks are not touching or crowding (I did 2 batches). Brown the beef on all sides. Remove beef and set aside. Repeat with the remaining beef if you didn’t get it all done on the first pass.

Lower heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil along with the celery and onion. Saute for a few minutes until onions are limp (they are going to cook for 2 more hours—believe me, they’ll cook through). Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add your bay leaves, cooked beef and 2 quarts of stock (this may seem like a lot of liquid but you’re going to need more than this because the rice sucks up so much). As you are adding the liquid, make sure to scrape all the brown yumminess from the bottom of the pot. You can add some salt and pepper now, but I would wait until halfway through for the salt because some stocks are salty. Raise your heat to high just until you bring it to a bubble, then lower to medium and allow it to simmer for 1 hour.

Okay, you’ve been simmering away nicely for 1 hour now. Taste your soup. Now this is going to sound weird, but trust me: you want your soup to be slightly salty. The reason for this is you are about to add 2 starches that will suck up that flavor. So if your soup tastes just lovely to you, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to start. Now, add your carrots, potatoes and tomatoes (at this point, add the barley if you are using it instead of rice, and continue as written). Stir through, bring back to a simmer and wander away for another 1/2 hour.

Back again! Your soup has been cooking for 1 1/2 hours now. Give it another taste. If the broth tastes perfect, then add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If it is still slightly salty, leave it be. I like adding a good teaspoon of ground pepper at this point. It really gives the soup a nice warmth. Add your rice (if using), corn, and remaining 2 cups of broth.

Now over the next 1/2 hour, keep an eye on your soup. That rice is going to drink the broth, so have more stock on hand. Or if you run out of stock, you can use water (if you use water, just remember you’ll need to let it reduce down and re-develop flavor). I did end up adding another couple cups of stock and could probably have added more. Let it simmer until the rice (or barley) is cooked (use your rice/barley package timing as a guideline). Check it after 1/2 hour. Adjust your seasonings and serve!