Comforting Ground Beef and Barley Soup

lean ground beef (use beef with less than 10% fat for South Beach Diet)

+ 1 tsp. olive oil

large onion, chopped

minced garlic (or less if you’re not that crazy about garlic)

cups homemade beef stock (or use 3 cans beef broth and a little water to make 6 cups)

vegetable stock (or 2 cans vegetable broth and a little water to make 4 cups)

dried parsley

dried thyme

finely chopped celery

finely chopped carrots

pearl barley

balsamic vinegar (add 1 T, then taste to see if you want to use more)

salt and fresh ground black pepper