A recipe, for a change: it's super tasty, it doesn't involve killing animals (advantage if you're an animal or vegeterian), and it's full of nutrition goodies - equivalent to a whole meal:

• Proteins (lentils)
• Carbohydrates (pearl barley, lentils, sweet potato)
• Dietary fiber and vitamins (mix of vegetables)

Ingredients

for a large pot (Serves 10); use half for a small pot:

• 2 cups of red lentils
• ~1/4 cup pearl barley
• 2 chopped medium onions
• 6 chopped garlic cloves
• Roughly-chopped celery leaves and/or stalks
• Vegetables - all peeled and cubed (medium size):
• 1 celery root
• 1 medium-sized sweet potato
• 3 medium-sized carrots
• 2 small-sized root parsley
• 1 zucchini
• spices:
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• salt & ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Instructions:

1. Sauté the chopped onions in the oil until it gets transparent or brownish (don't let it burn though), ~10 mins. No need to use a pan, do all the cooking in a single pot.
2. Add the chopped garlic, cumin, turmeric and cubed carrots and sauté for ~2 mins to avoid burning the garlic.
3. Add the pearl barley and a few cups of water and boil it. Lower the heat after it boils. Add the vegetables. Leave for ~30 mins to make sure the pearl barley is softened.
4. Add the red lentils and a few more cups of water. Add the celery leaves, salt and black pepper to your taste. Cook for ~15 mins, until the lentils and pearl barley are soft.

During the cooking, adjust amount of water to the desired thickness level. Usually the soup gets slightly thicker after it cools.

Let me know if you liked it.