Chicken Soup w. Barley & Lentils~

Chicken Soup w. Barley & Lentils

or double lentils if you're gluten free,

which we are,

for the last few years anyway.

But whatever.

Ingredients:
2c. Chopped onion
4 cloves minced garlic
4T. Butter
60oz + chicken broth
3c. Water
3c. Cooked chicken

1c. Dry lentils, rinsed and drained
1c. Barley (substitute 1c. lentils if gluten free for a total of 2c. lentils)
1/2 tsp. each basil, oregano, and rosemary
3c. + sliced carrots (I use baby carrots halved to make it easy)
(2) 14.5 oz cans cut tomatos


Directions:
** In a large pot (I use my largest stock pot), cook onion and garlic until tender.
** Stir in water, broth, lentils, barley, and herbs.
** Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
** Stir in chicken and carrots. Simmer, covered, for an additional 20 min or until carrots are just tender. Stir frequently as sometimes it sticks.
** Add undrained tomatos and heat through.



**This is good when first made, but even better if it sets up for a day. You can leave it on the stove for a long time to enhance the flavor, just watch it carefully. It does stick. After a while, it may thicken up, I just add more broth, water, herbs, etc. and you can do this numerous times and really make it stretch with no loss of flavor.

**If you keep cooked chicken and chopped veggies on hand, this is a very easy and very quick meal to make.

**If freezing, I usually freeze in double seal ziplock bags, and I double the bags to protect against potential mess. If I had more freezer space, I would freeze in gladware containers.


**I originally got this recipe from my good friend, Heather Norman. Thanks, Heather!