My favorite foods to make and eat are soups and I'm always looking for a new recipe to try out. My old recipe for vegetable barley soup was sort of bland so I was excited when I came across this recipe which included some unusual ingredients I'd never thought to add (curry powder - who'd a thunk it!). I tried the recipe as written the first time and then decided to tweek it to my liking. I like a hearty soup, so I added 1 1/2 pounds of lean stew meat, cut into small cubes. I eliminated the beans since I already had enough protein with the addition of the meat, and used beef broth rather than vegetable. I also waited until the last 30 minutes of the cooking time to add the barley so it didn't get overcooked. My daughter took some for her lunch and my son-in-law said he'd pay me to make a pot full just for him. A very big success, to say the least. Thanks for a great recipe.

Reviewed On: Aug. 7, 2009