Chicken Vegetable Soup with a Twist

This recipe is a little time consuming, just because of all the chopping. The secret ingredient is the whole cloves, which are are placed in a tea strainer and hung on the side of the soup pot to flavor the broth. Soup is always nice to make, because you can vary the recipe. Use a variety of vegetables, just keep in mind that the more you add, the thicker your soup will be. The ingredients below fill a large soup pot, and make enough for dinner and plenty of leftovers.

• Chicken, boiled and shredded (I used about 6-7 chicken breasts for a large pot of soup)
  
• Two large zucchinis
• One large yellow onion
• Two large carrots
• Four stalks of celery
• Any other vegetables that you'd like to add: cabbage, garlic, chopped tomatoes, etc.
  
• 1 cup of barley (you could also use rice)
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
  

Fill a large pot with enough water to boil the chicken. While you are waiting for the water to boil, chop the vegetables. When the water comes to a boil, add the chicken. Boil until cooked. Remove the chicken from the water and let cool, keeping most of the water. This will become the broth of the soup. Fill a tea strainer with the peppercorns and cloves. Bring the broth back up to a boil and add the barley (or rice). Hang the tea strainer on the side of the pot, submerging it in the broth. While the barley is cooking, shred the chicken. After the barley has been cooking for about 25-30 minutes, add the shredded chicken, lime juice, and chopped vegetables. Bring the soup back up to a boil and then reduce to medium. Let the mixture simmer until it reaches a the consistency of your liking. Remove the tea strainer, and serve.