I'm so very sorry to be posting another failed recipe, but I hope it gives everyone encouragement that not all kitchen ventures are successful. Also, a little failure now-and-then does wonders for deflating the ego. But please don't quit reading my blog, I promise there's some good experiences to come.

The recipe for this soup seemed so brilliant and simple: 1/2 cup baby broccoli florets, 1/2 cup cooked barley, 1 1/2-2 cups vegetable broth. Microwave until heated through and serve. Well, come to find out, I don't like barley much. It has the same texture as cooked oatmeal, which has never gotten my vote. In fact, the barley even turned me off to the Imagine Broth that was recommended by the Moosewood Collective as being the best store-bought broth. I drank the broth and ate the broccoli, but could not bring myself to finish the barley and finally dumped it in the trash. I hate wasting food. I was heart broken. . .especially now that I have most of a bag left that I have no idea what to do with.

If you have a recommendation for improving my barley experience, please comment below. I will be most grateful.