We loved the premise of this recipe! But I have to say I did change it quite a bit. First I doubled it and put it in a 9 x 13 pan. I left out the bacon and mushrooms and all of the spices. I used 4 cups of broth and 1 cup of water (broth comes in a 4 cup container) and added 2 cans of cream of whatever soup to add a bit of creaminess. For spices I subbed in 4 T of curry powder which gave it a great spiceyness. I used leftover chicken whatever I had on hand. Then I chopped the veggies I had in the fridge and sauted them with the onions before mixing it all together. A mixing tip mix the soup with the veggies and then stir into the broth and barely - makes the entire process go better. Topped with shreeded soy cheese... It took 1 hour 20 minutes to bake but my oven tends to be slow. Over all a great idea of a recipe that seems easily modifiable into whatever you happen to have on hand! We will definitly make this again.
This was nice but bland. I made a few changes - I added celery (with the green peppers) to the veggies. I also added in some dried sweetened cranberries. I omitted the crushed bay leaves and bacon and used olive oil to sautee the veggies. I used boneless chicken breasts instead of dark meat. If I make this again I might add in 1/2 can (or a whole can) of creamy soup (crm of mushroom maybe?) to make the dish a little creamy. Great as leftovers. I sprinkled some crumbled blue cheese on the leftovers and it was really yummy!
This was tasty -- a great change from chicken & rice. After reading others' reviews I did make a few changes: 1. I omitted the bacon. 2. I didn't sautee anything in advance -- just mixed everything together in a baking dish and put the raw chicken on top. 3. I doubled the marjoram and parsley and halved the thyme (don't like thyme much). 4. I salted/peppered the chicken breasts and sprinkled extra marjoram on top of them. The verdict: Easy moist healthy and delicious!
I made this recipe and my husband had 'three lots of 2nds'. He was a bit weary about the barley as I have never cooked with it before but he did enjoy it. My kids who are 'picky eaters' ate more of the vegetable mix than I expected them too. I tricked them and told them it was a type of rice. I'll definitely cook it again. Having never cooked with Barley before I wasn't sure whether you had to soak the Barley before putting it in the dish. I boiled it while I was preparing the vegetables.
To really punch up this recipe use an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce in addition to the chicken stock. Additionally use fresh herbs... a wonderful cool day put in the oven & foget tasty chicken dish.
Very good. I added a little tumeric ( adds a nice yellow color) omitted bell pepper and stirred chopped cooked chicken into the casserole with the other ingredients instead of laying chicken on the top.
this was superb but wouldn't use crushed bay leaves again. No matter how fine they are someone will find a sharp piece.
I omitted the bacon used chicken breasts and skipped the green peppers (because I don't like them). It turned out pretty well. I like the suggestion some made of the cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom) soup. I think that would add a lot.
Great recipe - my 4 year old even loved it! I also tried it in a slow cooker with great results. It was so easy. Thanks for the recipe.
The recipe wasn't bad. It just wasn't anything special. We love barley in this family and we decided it was better to make a seperate barley side dish and something with a little more flavor as a chicken dish. I will keep it handy as a back up because it is a nice change from the norm.
