Southwestern Chicken & Barley Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 7 cups water
• 2 low-sodium chicken bouillon cubes
• 3 skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup whole kernel corn
• 1 (14 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup barley
• 2 green zucchini, cubed
• 2 yellow squash, cubed
• 1 lime, sliced

Recipe

• 1 saute onion, garlic, celery, and green pepper in olive oil in soup pot.
• 2 once onions are soft, add water, boullion, tomatoes, black beans, and chicken to pot and bring to a slow simmer.
• 3 add whole dried chilis to pot for a minute, just to get the dried chili to soften a bit.
• 4 remove from pot. tear off stalk and remove seeds. dice chilis into small pieces and return to simmering pot.
• 5 let soup simmer 20 minutes and remove chicken from pot. shred or dice chicken and return to pot.
• 6 add barley and let soup simmer for 25 minutes.
• 7 add zucchini, squash, and corn and let simmer an additional 25 minutes.
• 8 serve with lime wedges.