Mom's Chicken Barley Soup for Souper Sunday

I am in Portland this week, visiting my family from my missed holiday trip, so I bring you Souper Sunday from my Mom's kitchen and a soup made by Mom. My Mom makes soup often, maybe not every week, but very often, in large batches and shares it with my sisters, freezing the rest for easy meals. When I got here, there were three different soups in the freezer; Chicken Barley, Beef Barley, (yes, we are barley lovers in my family), and Lentil with Ham. I let Mom pick the soup she wanted to share and she chose the Chicken Barley Soup, easy to make, hearty and packed with barley.

Chicken Barley Soup

by my Mom, Betty

(Makes 8 servings)

8 cups chicken stock or broth (homemade--like Mom, or use use a good low sodium broth)

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped or grated

1 large yellow onion, chopped finely

4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 tsp dried parsley 

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/4 cup pearl barley

1 cup or more cooked chicken breast, cubed

Heat stock to boiling and add vegetables and seasonings. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Stir in barley and cook as package directs (about 45 minutes), stirring occasionally until barley is tender. Add chicken and heat 5 minutes until warmed through. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Notes/Results:  Delicious healthy and warming, perfect for a winter's lunch in Portland. This soup is chock full of veggies, potatoes, chicken and lots of barley. If you are not a barley fan or like a "brothier" soup, you can reduce the amount of the barley you put in. Chicken soup from Mom, what could be better comfort food?!

Let's see who else is in the Souper Sunday Kitchen and what soups and other delights they brought to share.

Ulrike from Küchenlatein is here with another hearty slow cooker dish, her Ballymaloe Irish Stew. (German version here) Doesn't the name just conjure up images of wild, windswept, Irish moors?! Ulrike adapted this recipe to cook in a slow cooker for an event called "Eintopf" (meaning one pot), where all ingredients are cooked in one container. Although slow cookers are still not popular in Germany, Ulrike is doing her best to change that with this stew, full of lamb, potatoes, carrots and onions.  

Amanda from Joie de Vivre (yes she does have a name, recently "revealed" on her blog!) is back and looking for ways to work more healthy vegetables into her diet by making delicious, healthy soups. This week, a bright and sunny Golden Chick Pea and Polish Sausage Soup, full of sweet potatoes, onions and tomatoes, those wonderful chick peas and chunks of sausage. With saffron for color and some chili for a kick, this one is sure to warm you up.

Kim from Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet is blogging everyday this month to earn her NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) badge and her theme for all her posts is "love", featuring 28 of her husband's favorite recipes. Well nothing says love like a bowl of soup and this Beef Vegetable Soup is evidence of that. Hearty, full of chunks of beef, carrots, potatoes and her husband's favorite peas, it's the perfect comfort food dinner for his long days and nights working to build up their business.

Kristin from locallcfoods is practicing and perfecting her Corn Chowder, to potentially enter her town's chowder cook-off to raise funds for the local community center. Taking the best ideas from lots of different recipes, Kristen got so caught up in the chowder making she forgot to get a picture. Full of corn, peppers, potatoes and zucchini and some paprika for a spot of color, it sounds delicious and perfect for the snowy weather they have been having. (Here's a picture of the snow!)

Christine from Kit's Chow has a delicious looking "Frango na púcara" or Portuguese Chicken Casserole that she adapted from a World Cuisine volume on Portugal to share this week. Tender chicken in a delicious wine sauce, flavored with smoked ham, garlic and curry. The leftovers even made a delicious paella / jambalaya-like dish the next day and Roxy the cat waited patiently through the picture taking to be rewarded with some bites of the delicious chicken meat.

Gingered Tofu and Noodle Soup is the latest offering by Abigail from mamatouille, who is finding Souper Sundays becoming a habit. Abigail found this soup to be perfectly described by the Japanese word "sukkiri", meaning cleansing, refreshing and satisfying. With chicken stock, noodles, tofu and cabbage kicked up with warming ginger and cayenne pepper, it is the perfect cure-all soup for any time and any ailment and so delicious she can't wait to make it again. 

Looking for a big soup?  Look no further than the Minestrone--BIG Soup from Laura at Hey What's For Dinner Mom?  That's what minestrone means, "big soup" and feeling a little under the weather, Laura had an unexpected "hankering" for it. Pulling out "The Art of Simple Food" by Alice Waters, she found a recipe for what just might be the best soup she has ever made. Full of healthy veggies, beans and pasta, her kids even declared it the best soup EVER--high praise indeed!

Beef and beer is certainly the way to a man's heart and putting it into a hearty, comforting pie topped with flaky puff pastry proved to be a winner recipe for my friend Natashya at Living In the Kitchen With Puppies. She made Jamie Oliver's Steak, Guinness and Cheese Pie with a Puff Pastry Lid to warm up the cold, wet winter weather. As she calls it "comfort food, pub fare and a great big hug all wrapped up in one dish."  No wonder her husband loved it!

Looking for a way to use up some leftover pressure cooker black beans, Andrea at Nummy Kitchen is dishing out Barbecue Black Bean and Corn Soup at her house. Putting her favorite combo of black beans and corn together, with tomatoes, spices and a little BBQ sauce, she had a super easy, delicious dish that even all three kids loved! She served it with her "copycat" Jiffy Corn Muffins, (her vegetarian-friendly take on the Jiffy muffin mix), and they were delicious crumbled over a bowl of this soup. 

Inspired by a reading of the chili history book, "A Bowl of Red" by Frank X. Tolbert, and wanting to warm her family through the forcasted cold weather, Rachel at The Crispy Cook decided to whip up her own bowl of red. Getting creative with a big can of baked beans and lots of veggies, she whipped up her Blasphemous Baked Bean Chili. Vegetarian friendly and not to be served to any meat-lovin Texans, it may not be your standard Texas fare but her family found it delicious!

Another delicious week at Souper Sunday. Be sure to check out all our participants' soup posts and blogs for the recipes and more details. If you want to join us for Souper Sundays, click on the Souper Sunday logo on the side bar for all the details.

Happy Sunday and have a great week!