Chipotle Black Bean-Barley Soup

I've tried several of the Green Smoothie Girl's recipes, and I have not yet been disappointed in any of her salads, but I haven't been as big of a fan of her other recipes. This one, however, was really tasty. I forgot to soak beans the night before, and I didn't feel like waiting an hour to eat (it was already time to eat when I started cooking) so I just used canned beans and added them towards the end. I also used pearled barley, because I couldn't find hulled barley in the tiny store in my town, but in the end it was probably a good thing because it cooked much more quickly than I anticipated. I also couldn't find dry chipotle peppers or chipotle sauce, so I used canned chipotle peppers, and took a couple out, added water, blended them up and used that as the chipotle sauce. Also, I pureed the peppers with some of the soup as she says you can, and this made it pretty hot, but it wasn't so unbearable that I couldn't eat it. I rather enjoyed the kick it had to it; but I'll admit that I wished I'd made corn bread to go with it because it kicked hard!

2 C dry black beans, rinsed well
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 small yellow onions, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 medium green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp ground cumin
3 dried chipotle chilies
2 tsp hot chipotle sauce
8 C water
2 bay leaves
1/2 C barley (hulled, not pearled - pearling partially refines the grain)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 C fresh orange juice
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Soak the black beans overnight, then drain and rinse well. Heat coconut oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers, carrots, and garlic and saute 5 minutes. Reduce heat and add the oregano, cumin, chilies, and sauce and saute for 1 minute. Add the water, bay leaves, beans, and barley. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower it to a simmer and cook uncovered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the beans are tender. Stir in the cocoa powder, cinnamon, orange juice, cilantro, vinegar, and salt and simmer for 5 minutes uncovered. Remove the dried chipotle peppers before serving (either throw them away or puree them with a bit of soup and add them back in). Optionally serve with Cornbread or Whole Wheat Biscuits.