Vegetable Beef (Venison) Barley Soup Recipe

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big meat lover. But can I just be honest with you--this was THE BEST stew I have ever had in my entire life (or at least the best stew I've ever made.:D) The taste of venison sometimes weirds me out, but this was melt-in-your-mouth perfection. I stopped Kevin in the middle of a sentence to express my love for the bowl of stew in front of me. It's THAT good. 

The trick is to brown the meat in a hot skillet to form a beautiful crisp edge to seal in that flavor and add to the tenderness. Don't skip that step! The tender meat, combined with the thickness of the barley and the hearty vegetables make this stew incredible! Go on, now, TRY IT! 

Vegetable Beef (Venison) Barley Soup Recipe

recipe from Betty Crocker Cookbook

Serves 6

Ingredients

canola oil

1 pound venison or beef stew meat

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup 1-inch pieces of fresh or frozen green beans

1/3 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1/3 cup uncooked barley

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried thymed

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup beef broth or bouillon

1 -14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

4 oz tomato sauce

Directions

In a large skillet, drizzle canola oil and heat over medium. Cut the stew meat into smaller, bite sized pieces if necessary. Add in stew meat and cook on each side until crisp and browned. This is the key to delicious depth of flavor and tender stew meat!

Combine the meat and the remaining ingredients in a 5 quart slow cooker and cook on high 6-7 hours. 

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