Barley Chicken Casserole...a one pot wonder!

The rain has started in Oregon and we have had some pretty incredible storms so far.  On one of those days last week, I was in need of some comfort food.  My brain immediately thought of the baked chicken and rice recipe that I love and I started digging through the cupboard to see if I had everything I would need.  I didn't but I did have a half a bag of barley.  I only have one recipe that calls for barley and I decided at that moment that perhaps I needed two.  Off to Pinterest I went!

My search paid off.  I found a recipe here and made a few tweaks to make it a one pot meal (because why not if you can) and oh my gosh...AMAZING!  It was exactly what I needed.  It was super creamy and delicious.  Joe didn't even get a chance at the leftovers. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup of barley
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup (yeah, I know, horrible processed cream of chicken soup...but I know it made this dish.  I keep one in the cupboard for rainy-day-I-need-some-comfort-food occasions.)
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon of sage
• 6 chicken tenderloins

Directions

1. Melt butter and saute the celery and onion until translucent. (Make sure you pick a pot that is big enough to add the other ingredients, has a lid and is oven safe.)
2. Add minced garlic and barley and cook for two more minutes.
3. Add the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, thyme and sage and stir well.
4. Lay the chicken tenderloins on top of the mixture, cover pot and put in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  (I did pull it out at 1 hour to check it and I mixed it a bit and then threw in a couple of handfuls of sliced mushrooms on one side since Joe loves them..and well, I don't.)

Looking at this picture makes me want to make this again...very soon!!!