Seriously, people. I am about to rock your socks off.

Say hello to Chicken Barley Stew. I based this pretty much on a recipe in a magazine. I think it might have been out of Clean Eating. I don’t remember it’s in the big pile o’ magazines in my living room floor. Regardless, socks – be prepared to be rocked.

Take an acorn squash. Cut it into slices and put it in the oven. Salt and pepper. 10 minutes. Then flip. Until soft. While that’s going…

A tablespoon or so of butter in a big ol’ pot.

Followed by a diced onion.

When the onions are soft, drain and rinse 2 cans of black eyed peas. Add them to the pot.

Have your helper measure out a cup of barley

And add it to the pot too.

I added a box of chicken broth. I ended up adding about another cup or so over the course of the cooking. The barley is really thirsty.

Then we added the meat off a rotisserie chicken that the helper had shredded while I was getting it started.

Thyme and basil. About a teaspoon of each. Salt and pepper too.

When the squash was done, peel and chunk it. Add it to the soup.

It cooked for a little while – I straightened up the kitchen and watched the liquid level. And then it was ready.

And it was amazing.

Don’t let this scare you away if you don’t want to use the squash. It would be just as good without it. Next time, I’ll probably leave the squash out. Or add more. It just didn’t seem to add that much. The recipe called for potatoes and carrots. I don’t think I’ll add them either.

So nice on a cool fall evening. You need some of this stew in your life. Amen.