Left Over Power: Barley Risotto Soup

My Barley Risotto-Style makes a lot of food. After making soup the next day, I froze the remaining risotto. Just a few days ago, I ate the risotto from the freezer. I have been so proud of my Pumpkin Barley Risotto-Style that I have been bragging about it for weeks but eating it again inspired a few thoughts (or more likely, in my case, repetitive musings):

• this is one of those recipes that turned out even better than I could imagine when coming up with the idea; of course, squash risotto sounds yummy but this is spectacular;
• there are no fancy ingredients or special techniques at work in this recipe but it tastes expensive and luxurious;
• after having the leftovers, I am 100% convinced this would be a perfect entertaining recipe. I will duly report my results if 
1. I ever have guests over again
2. I have friends that would eat pumpkin (Z. is not interested)
3. Z. lets me cook for guests. Cooking Indian food for friends is either of his favorite pastimes (he does cook like an Indian grandmother, after all) or is so socially awkward that he feels better having a job to do while hanging out. I think the truth lies somewhere between the two
• and finally, no wonder barley is so popular in soup. It's delicious!

To make enough soup for my dinner, in a small pan, I just added enough water to 1 cup of risotto to create the consistency I wanted and heated until just simmering. I threw in a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach in at the end and let it wilt simply because I had it and that sounded good. I wonder what other variations are possible? Enjoy!