Beef and Barley Soup

Allen and I ended up being is sort of a simple mood tonight, which was good because our soup ended up being pretty simple.

Here's what you'll need:

1lb lean ground beef
2 large onions
2 celery hearts
6 med-large carrots
1 basket baby portobella mushrooms
1 cup pearl barley
seasonings:
good squeeze brags amino acids
large pinch salt/pepper
heavy sprinkle gran. garlic
pinch red pepper flakes
veggie bullion/stock
beef bullion/stock

Method:

While beef is browning in the soup pot chop/slice all your vegetables. Add all the veggies except the mushrooms to the soup pot and cook briefly (5-10min). Add mushrooms, water, barley, stock, and other seasonings. Cook for about an hour and enjoy the delicious broth. The original recipe off which this is based called for chopped parsley, but I plain forgot to add it. Allen and I thought it tasted great as is. Just make sure to add the mushrooms as they make the broth taste so much richer. Considering how much I do to spice up normal food (with pesto, olive oil, cheese, red pepper, curry, etc) it was really good to have a simple soup with plain, strong flavors. We nearly ate half the pot in one sitting!