Leek-Barley Vegetable Stew, Potato-Onion Bread

I'm attending an evening photography seminar from 5-9:30p tonight, so thought I'd get a meal going in the slow cooker. Around 1:30p, I started the slow cooker on low with two summer squashes cut into 1/4" discs and (for the thicker portions of the squash) half-discs; about a half dozen baby carrots cut into 1/4" pieces; a leek cut into half lengthwise (then washed thoroughly to remove any embedded dirt) then cut into 1/2" half-discs; a small 6-ounce container full of pearled barley and three times as much water; a vegan bouillon cube; a little salt; and fresh herbs from my garden - maybe a tablespoon of rosemary, a tablespoon of oregano, and a few teaspoons of sliced basil leaves. Let's see how it turns out 8 1/2 hours later! I'll serve it with some delicious hardy potato-onion bread that I purchased yesterday.

We ate around 10:30p (mine was a good seminar by Hollywood veterans Bruce Dorn and Maura Dutra of iDC Photography and covered lighting, album design, and "painting" photographs). The "soup" had little liquid - I suspected that I needed more water than the amount the grain itself called for, but the slow cooker was full to the very top. I think I should call this a stew instead of a soup - and a very thick stew, at that. It was good but could have used a little more seasoning.