CHINESE - CHICKEN BARLEY SOUP

This soup is a great meal for phase two or three of the South Beach Diet. You could make the same soup with brown rice, or wild rice, which would still be great for South Beach.   For phase three you could add some toasted 100% whole wheat bread, which would be great to dip into the soup!

{ Preparation & Cooking Time : 20 Min }
      Difficulty : Easy
     Meal Type : Non-Veg
           Serves : 1-2
Cuisines : Chinese, Asian, East Asian, Indonesian, Vietnamese

  Ingredients
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken (or 2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts)
• 8 cups chicken stock, homemade or canned
• 1 quart water
• 1 generous T Better Than Bouillon organic vegetable soup base (optional, but recommended for best flavor, other types of veggie stock cubes can be used)
• 1 teaspoon. dried thyme (or use frozen thyme leaves if you have them)
• 1 teaspoon. poultry seasoning 
• 1 T dried parsley
• 1 onion, chopped small
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup sliced or diced carrots (or more if you really like carrots)
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• fresh ground black pepper to taste, salt if desired

    Preparation Method
1. If you don't have leftover chicken,  put two chicken breasts in a small saucepan with some water and a little bit of Better Than Bouillon Organic Low Sodium Chicken Base and simmer over very low heat about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is barely done.  Let chicken cool, then dice into small pieces.

2. In a large stock pot, combine chicken stock, water, vegetable soup base, dried thyme, poultry seasoning, and dried parsley. Simmer 15 minutes while you chop veggies and chicken.

3. After 15 minutes, add chopped onion, chopped celery, sliced carrots, and barley. Start to simmer, and when the barley is nearly done (about 45 minutes) add the diced chicken.  You may want to add a cup or so of water if the soup reduces too much.

4. When the barley is done to your liking, season the soup with fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste, and serve hot. (Be sure to taste before adding salt if using canned chicken stock, which can be rather salty.)