Chicken and barley soup

Portions: 4 to 6

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time : 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 30 ml (2 tbsp.) olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 500 ml (2 cups) mushrooms, sliced
• 1.5 liters (6 cups) chicken broth
• 5 ml (1 teaspoon) honey
• 1 bay leaf
• 500 ml (2 cups) green beans, chopped
• 250 ml (1 cup) hulled barley
• 2 eggs, yolks removed
• 1 lemon, juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and brown the chicken breasts for 3 minutes on each side.
2. Add onion, garlic, carrots and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, honey, bay leaf, green beans, salt and pepper and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked.
4. Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the hulled barley according to the cooking instructions.
5. Remove from pan and shred chicken breasts.
6. Return the shredded chicken to the soup.
7. Add cooked barley and stir.
8. Whisk egg yolks and lemon juice in a bowl.
9. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then slowly incorporate the egg and lemon mixture, stirring constantly to avoid cooking the yolks too quickly.
10. Return the saucepan to low heat, without boiling, just to bind the soup and obtain a velvety texture.
11. Serve immediately with a touch of freshly ground pepper, if desired.