Chicken and Barley Soup

This is a great healthy recipe for Chicken and Barley Soup. The Thermomix makes this recipe really quick and easy, and even though I don't actually cook the soup in the Thermomix it really helps with the prep.

Ingredients
Olive oil
2 onions, peeled and quartered
3 cloves of garlic
250g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped into large pieces
180g celery, roughly chopped into large pieces
180g red capsicum, roughly chopped into large pieces
2L chicken stock
2 fresh bay leaves
220g pearl barley, rinsed well
520g skinless chicken breast, roughly chopped into large pieces
100g silverbeet or spinach, stalks removed and sliced

Method
Place a large saucepan on the stove.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and heat on high.

Add the onion and garlic to the Thermomix.  Chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl then pulse a couple of times on turbo.

Add the onion mix to the saucepan.  Sauté for at least 5 minutes till the onion is softened.

While the onion mix is cooking add the carrots, celery and red capsicum to the Thermomix bowl.  Pulse a couple of times on turbo till they reach the desired consistency (you are wanting the veggies to be roughly diced in small bits, not slush).

Add the vegetable mixture to the saucepan and cook for a further few minutes.

Add the stock, bay leaves and barley to the saucepan.  Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, add the chopped chicken to the Thermomix bowl (no need to rinse the bowl after chopping the veggies).  Pulse the chicken 3-4 times on turbo.  What you are aiming for is a course mince, so don't pulse it too many times.

Add the chicken to the saucepan and stir to break up the chicken.  Simmer for a further 45 minutes until the barley is soft.

Add the sliced silverbeet to the saucepan and cook or a few minutes to wilt.

Serve and enjoy!