If cooking the grains separately: Rinse the grains. Put the grains and 2 teaspoon salt in a medium pot and cover generously with water (barley takes 2.5 cups of water to 1 cup of broth; if cooking barley separately but adding to soup later, use just 2 cups). Bring to a boil, lower heat to maintain a simmer, and cook until the grains are tender to the bite; in the case of barley, this will take 40-50 minutes, but more delicate grains like quinoa will require only 15. Drain and set aside.

If cooking the grains in the soup, proceed according to instructions and add the grains after you've added the broth.

Prep your greens. Cut the stems out of from the kale leaves. Trim the stems and finely chop them, then cut the leaves into thin ribbons; keep the stems and leaves separate (If using greens without thick stems, simply chop them into ribbons).

Chop onion into bite-sized pieces. Mince garlic.

Heat 1 TB of olive oil in a soup pot over med-high heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, until it is beginning to turn transluscent. Add kale stems and cook, stirring frequently, until they're soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chipotle powder (or smoked paprika) and stir to combine.

Add the broth and grains (if cooking grains in soup, add another 2 cups of water to soup and follow the timelines outlined initially). Once grains are cooked, add the greens, stir to combine, and cook until wilted and tender, about 10 minutes for kale (or 1-2 minutes for spinach, 5 minutes for chard).

Season with salt to taste (I start with 1 TB for a pot of soup, and usually go to 2-3, but I like my salt). Serve warm with a lemon wedge and a grind or two of pepper.