Beef Vegetable (Quinoa ) Barley ! Soup

To counter my last post, I'm going to talk about some REAL soup. REAL Gooooood Soup.
I'm no soup connoisseur, but lately I have taken an interest in real soup. Meaning - from scratch. Also, given the fact that I have been sick more times in the past 8 months than I have been in about ten years, soup is my new fav!
It started off with my regular visits to the Upper Crust  for their AMAZING minestrone soup. Actually... their soup was the only thing I went there for (other than their lemon-blueberry tart - which they shipped in and charged an arm and a leg for). I loved this soup because it was made from scratch. And it was a burst full of flavors all into one, with even a wonderful touch of ginger, for my colds on a rainy day.

But alas, since my Italian patient (who's recipe it was) stopped working there, the quality diminished as the prices soared! (7$ for a soup? Really? Is it made of gold?... whatever, I'm cheap, what can I say)  This actually lead   forced me to attempt to make my own soup. After a few tries, I think I did pretty good. I call it my Italian Veggie Barley soup! (actually it has no name, I just made that up on the spot... it should really be my I need to save my lunch money to one day buy a home ... soup).

But that's not what I'm here to give away. I'm here to share with you yet another AMAZING tasting soup. I will admit, it surpasses mine. (NOTE: its better with barley than quinoa.)

1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 cup diced stewing beef
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup quinoa BARLEY
4 cups beef broth
1 sprig (what the heck is a sprig?!)fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs parsley
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Prep:

Heat oil in large sauce pan on medium-high heat. Place the beef in the pan and brown for 5 min. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook until the onion is opaque, about 10 min. Add the quinoa and beef broth.

Make a bundle of herbs by placing the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and parsley in a small 4- inch (5 cm) square cheesecloth and tying it with a cotton string. (you can also use a tea strainer or simply tie the herbs together with a string)Immerse the bundle in the soup.

Simmer the soup for 17 minutes, until the quinoa is tender. Add the red pepper and peas in the last 8 minutes of cooking. Remove the fresh herbs, Season with salt and pepper and serve!