I saw this recipe over on Facebook in one of my Weight Watcher groups and thought I’d give it a go.
It doesn’t get much easier than browning meat and throwing a bunch of stuff in and letting it simmer for a while, so why not. I was originally skeptical of not cooking/sauteing the veggies before putting them in the broth but I do that with my Mom’s lentil soup, so I resisted my urge to saute first and it actually worked out.
The original recipe called for zucchini but that seemed odd to me, so I decided to go with sliced mushrooms instead. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same.
Ingredients
- 1lb 96% lean ground beef
- 1 8oz package sliced mushrooms
- 2 quarts low salt, fat free beef broth
- 1 14.5oz can low salt, fat free beef broth
- 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
- 3/4C pearled barley
- 3 large celery stalks, sliced
- 3 large carrot sticks, sliced (or about 11 baby carrots)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2T Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2t dried thyme
- 1/2t dried sage
- 1 bay leaf
- ground fresh pepper, to taste
- 3oz fresh baby spinach
Directions
Brown the beef in a large, non-stick stock pot, add mushrooms near the end of browning and stir in. Add broth, tomatoes, and barley to pot. Bring it to a boil (while I’m waiting for this is when I chopped all my veggies). Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove lid, add all remaining ingredients except spinach, and cook for 50 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook for 2 more minutes.
The original recipe also gives slow cooker directions but I haven’t tried that yet.
I’ll be freezing the rest and would definitely make this again.
Oh and at 8 servings (still need to measure exact serving size but I’ll bet at least 1C), it’s 3 Weight Watcher Smart Points.