Chicken, Barley and Root Vegetable Soup
Eight portions of thick chicken and barley soup with parsnip, carrot and dill, the sort that freezes into a solid week of lunches.
Why it works
Chicken soup has more behind it than folklore. Small studies have found that it slows the movement of neutrophils, the immune cells whose activity drives the congestion and inflammation of a cold, which is a plausible mechanism for why it makes people feel better. Whether or not that holds, the fluid, sodium, and warm vapour are genuinely useful when someone is unwell and not eating. Barley is the reason this one is a meal rather than a broth: its beta-glucan thickens the soup as it sits and carries the same cholesterol evidence oats do. Adding the dill at the end rather than the start keeps it green, and it is what stops the whole thing tasting beige.
Chicken soup has small laboratory studies showing reduced neutrophil migration, a plausible mechanism for symptom relief. Barley beta-glucan has strong trial support for cholesterol.
Ingredients
- 600 g boneless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
- 200 g pearl barley
- 3 carrots and 2 parsnips, diced
- 2 celery sticks and 1 onion, diced
- 2 litres low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp black peppercorns
- A large bunch of dill, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Lemon to finish
Method
- Warm the oil in a large pot and brown the chicken in batches. Crowding the pot steams the meat and you lose the fond, which is most of the flavour.
- Add the onion, carrot, parsnip, and celery and cook for ten minutes until softening.
- Return the chicken, add the barley, stock, bay, and peppercorns, and simmer covered for 45 minutes until the barley is tender and the soup has thickened.
- Take off the heat and stir in most of the dill and a good squeeze of lemon.
- Cool quickly by sitting the pot in cold water before portioning. Slow cooling is the main food-safety risk with a big batch of soup.
