Chicken Soup with Rice and Barley

From: Automatically Light! cookbook

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 cup carrots, coarsely chopped
2 cups onion, coarsely chopped
3 cups chicken broth, defatted
4 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup white rice
1/4 cup medium barley
1 tsp dried thyme

Place chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients through pepper. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or until a fork pierces meat easily. Remove chicken and vegetables. Puree vegetables in a blender. Skim all fat from broth. Cut chicken into small pieces.

Return broth and pureed vegetables to the slow cooker and add rice, barley and thyme. Cover and cook at high for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until rice and barley are very tender. Add chicken during the last 15 minutes.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! What a classic comfort food recipe. I didn't use the slow cooker. I used the stove instead. I put all ingredients through pepper in a soup pot and brought to a boil. I simmered for about an hour and a half. I removed the chicken and veggies but I did not blend them, because I thought that sounded kind of gross. I added rice and barley to the broth/water and cooked for about 45 minutes. I then added the chicken and vegetables back in and cooked another 10-15 minutes to make sure it was all warm. Voila!