• Add all the ingredients except beans, spinach and lemon juice to the Instant Pot. Set to pressure cook for 20 minutes. When time is up, you can do a quick or natural release.
• Finish the soup by adding the beans, spinach, and squeezing in the juice of a lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste, and additional red pepper flakes if desired for a bit of heat.

To make in the Crock Pot:

• Put everything in a crock pot EXCEPT the beans, spinach and lemon juice. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours, until barley and lentils are cooked through.

  Finish the soup by adding the beans, spinach, and squeezing in the juice of a lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste, and additional red pepper flakes if desired for a bit of heat.

To make stove-top:

• In a soup pot, saute the onion, carrots, celery tomato paste in a splash of water. Cook until onions are soft, about 7-10 minutes.
• Add the chopped vegetables, garlic, oregano, and thyme. Cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, lentils, barley, broth, water, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
• Bring the soup to a simmer, and let simmer on low heat about 40 minutes, or until lentils and barley are cooked through. Stir occasionally to prevent settled vegetables from burning.
• Finish the soup by adding the beans, spinach, and squeezing in the juice of a lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste, and additional red pepper flakes if desired for a bit of heat.