Souper Sunday is Back and it's more Barley-y than ever!!

Souper Sunday is back! Although technically I made this soup on Saturday but it was for Sunday. Somehow I scheduled a full week of chicken recipes. Andy came home from the grocery store with 10 pounds of chicken (because that's what I had on the list) and I realized somehow I went chicken crazy. This recipe is made from precooked chicken, so it came together easily with left over chicken from a few nights before. We really liked the barley. I did not know how much Andy likes barley, well hey he sure does, how we have more to toss in soup. I like that barley doesn't swell up and get weird in left over. This soup is great the day off, the next day, and the next... keeping on repeat. I even had some today for lunch thinking, ehhh do I want this? When I did, I was sad at the bottom of the bowl.

One Pot Chicken Barley Soup
1 tbsp Butter Unsalted
1 tbsp Oil
1 cup Onion Finely chopped
2 cloves Garlic Finely minced
1 cup Carrots Peeled, Diced
1/2 cup Celery Sliced
8 cups Chicken broth Low sodium
1 can Crushed tomatoes 14.5 oz. can, Or diced tomatoes or even tomato sauce
3/4 cup Pearl barley
2.5 cups Cooked chicken Shredded rotisserie chicken or diced rotisserie chicken
1/3 cup Corn Frozen
1/3 cup Peas Frozen
1.5 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt To taste
Pepper To taste
1 Bay leaf
1-2 tbsp Parsley Fresh, Roughly chopped, For garnish

Heat butter and oil in a large nonstick pot over medium heat.
Add onion, garlic and cook until onion becomes slightly softened and garlic becomes fragrant. Takes about 3-4 minutes.
Add carrots, celery and saute for another 1 minute.
Add broth, crushed tomatoes, barley, shredded or diced chicken, corn, peas, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, bay leaf.
If you re worried about the peas and corn becoming too soft and "mushy", don't add them now. Instead, add them in the final 15-20 mins of cooking.
Mix everything together and bring to a boil.
Let it simmer uncovered for 50 minutes or until barley is cooked through and tender. If the soup starts to get too thick, you can mix in some more broth or water. If it's too thin, continue cooking uncovered for a bit longer until liquid is reduced.
Discard bay leaf.
Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy!