Chicken and barley stew

 Chicken and barley stew - from clean eating magazine site

INGREDIENTS:

• 32 oz low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp garlic sea salt
• 1/2 tbsp thyme
• 1/2 tbsp basil
• 1/2 tbsp cilantro
• 1/4 tbsp dill
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
• 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed (uncooked)
• 1/2 cup uncooked black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked through
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 medium sweet onion, cubed
• 20 oz potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 10 oz carrots (3 large), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 8 tbsp low-fat sour cream (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Fill a slow cooker with broth, 8 oz water, garlic, herbs and pepper. Add chicken, peas and barley, then layer onion, potatoes and carrots overtop. Liquid should just cover vegetables. Do not stir.
2. Allow to simmer overnight, at least 4 to 6 hours. Remove bay leaves and stir before serving. Spoon 1 cup into each bowl and top with 1 tbsp sour cream, if desired.

Review: This was actually really good! One look at the ingredients and it's easy to see how healthy this is. It's full of all kinds of veggies and healthy fiber! For my house it had a little too much pepper so I'll be cutting it in half next time and it needed some salt, but otherwise very tasty. I paired it with some biscuits that were a perfect match and after one bowl we were very full. It makes enough for 6-8 people easily but lucky for us it also freezes so I made up some single portions lunches later.