Barley & Pasta Soup

Ahhh, what's for dinner? Love that question. One of my New Year's resolutions is to get better at meal-planning, but you know...I just really suck at it. I get totally overwhelmed at the idea of planning more than two meals at a time. I mean, a whole week? Talk about brain-overload. Plus, I like to be inspired--see something and think, "oh, that sounds good"--or look at all my leftovers and put together a puzzle in my head of how to recreate them. I've got too much right-brain or something...or is it left-brain?
Anywho, back to dinner. When I asked myself that question today at 4:00, this was the conversation I had in my head:

"Well, I've got two avocados that I need to use asap before they go bad. I've got a little Los Hermanos salsa hanging around, so tortilla soup sounds obvious.
"But I don't have any thawed chicken...and we're a little tortilla-souped-out. But I've got tons of tortillas. Okay, how about enchiladas?
"Still, no chicken. I could use canned chicken (blech!) but I don't have any green chilies. Let forget Mexican. Okay...what else.
"Oh, look! I just happened on this blog with a recipe for Arugula Salad with avocados. perfect. What to go with? No meat, so...soup? I've got tons of veggies I need to use, so yes, soup!
"And I've got 1/4 box of pasta leftover from minestrone. What's this on the back of the box? A recipe for barley & potato soup? Mmmm, I love barley and I haven't used any for a while. Works for me...barley soup, it is!"

Madness, I tell you. But it works (most the time) and tonight was no exception--the salad was perfect (I just used spinach, oranges and avocado--no fennel) and the soup was delish! I tweaked the soup a bit--I didn't use potatoes (sounded too starchy with the barley and pasta) and I added tons of veggies. And Parmesan rind! You'll probably notice me adding Parmesan rind to all my soups these days--I'm a fan. So, if you're still reading after all this rambling, I will reward you with the recipe. Stolen, but modified, from the back of the ditalini pasta box--

Barley and Pasta Soup
1 onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 quarts vegetable or chicken stock
3/4 cup barley
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 cup ditalini pasta
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small yellow squash, diced
2-3 handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
1 Tbsp Italian parsley, minced
1 Parmesan rind (opt)
salt and pepper to taste.
Parmesan cheese, grated (not opt, :))
Crusty bread (I cubed the leftover baguette from last night, tossed in a little olive oil and toasted under the broiler to make croutons--sooooo good. Do it. Love it.)

1. In large pot, saute and the onions and garlic for a minute in the olive oil. Add the stock and barley. Bring to boil and cook for 30 mins.
2. Add carrots, celery, pasta and rind. Cook for 10 mins. (I add about 1/2 tsp salt at this time)
3. Add the zucchini and yellow squash. Cook for 5 mins.
4. Turn off heat. Add the spinach and parlsey and let sit for about 15 minutes (to let the flavors meld, and puff up the barley).
5. Serve topped with grated Parmesan and crusty bread.