Celebrate Soup Season with Easy (and Healthy) Crockpot Chicken Soup with Barley and Mushrooms

 

Ingredients: 

• 10 c. chicken stock or broth (low sodium or regular based on your tastes/needs)
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 8 oz. cremini or baby bella mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 lg. carrots, peeled and cut into rounds 
• 2 stalks celery, sliced 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 c. barley
• 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 
Note: You can prep the crockpot with most ingredients the night before and refrigerate if you wish. Be sure to let the crockpot insert warm up a bit on the counter in the morning before you start cooking. 

1. Chop carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and place them in the crockpot. Mushrooms will be added later, but feel free to cut them ahead (or used pre-cut 'shrooms) and refrigerate them until needed.
2. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and add them to the pot. 
3. Bundle the thyme, bay leaf, and dried mushrooms, if you're using them, in a bouquet garni using cheesecloth and kitchen twine (see the crockpot pot roast recipe for more about a bouquet garni). You can just toss these items in if you prefer, but then you'll have to find and fish them out individually later. 
4. Add the barley, unless you are refrigerating overnight. In that case, you'll add the barley in the morning before cooking. I like plump soft barley, but if you prefer yours firmer, hold off on adding it until you're about halfway into the cooking time. 
5. Add the chicken stock or broth.
6. Cook on low heat, with a total cooking time of 6-8 hours.
7. An hour before it's done, add the sliced mushrooms. 
8. When it's ready, remove the bouquet garni or individual thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and dried mushrooms. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Pull the chicken breasts out and shred them with two forks. Put the chicken back in the pot. 

Yields 6-8 entrée portions. My Italian family often likes a little parmesan in soups, so you can add some grated or finely shredded parm if you choose or add a parm rind whilst cooking. Some crusty bread and butter wouldn't be amiss either. Enjoy!

Cheffy Tips: 

• To make this even easier, you can use some frozen veggies in this instead. If you go that route, add them in the last hour when you put the mushrooms in. 
• When making soups and stews, particularly in the crockpot, try to cut items to roughly the same size. This helps with even cooking and also deliciousness, as the components' flavors all meld together into perfect lil bites. 
• You can freeze this, but the barley will absorb more of the liquid. You can cook/store barley separately to manage that or know that you'll have to add more stock/broth when you defrost and eat. I've got some of this in the freezer now, so check back with me (Kristie) if you want a report out on how it reheats or have any questions.