Chicken, Black Bean, & Barley Stew

• 1½ cups dried black beans
• 4 chicken legs (thighs & drumsticks) or 3 lbs other parts
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced into thin disks
• ¾ cup barley
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt

1. In a 4-quart (or larger) pot, cover beans with 2 inches water. Bring to a boil and cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour.
2. Return pot to medium heat. Add chicken, onion, carrots & celery. Cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Remove chicken from pot and let it cool. Add barley to pot. Season with pepper, mustard, and cayenne. Cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, until beans & barley are tender.
4. Remove chicken from bones and shred into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken meat to pot. Add salt and heat through.

This is a very substantial main dish, especially good for cold winter evenings. I usually double the recipe; it freezes well. I've adapted a recipe from 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, by Cheryl Sedaker -- mainly by increasing the spices, beans and barley, and by adding the carrots. I think just about any stew should have carrots!