When my daughter, Emily, was a baby, she loved sweet potatoes so much that one day, when I went to lift her from her crib, her skin looked orange. I panicked, thinking she had hepatitis, but the doctor knew right away that I had just given her too many jars of sweet potatoes. She never lost her taste for this naturally sweet, creamy vegetable. When she got older, I made her this soup to take to school for lunch. When she opened her thermos, all her friends wanted to try this eyecatching, chunky array of chicken, vegetables, and barley pearls. They wrote a song about it called “Sweet Potato Chick Chick a Barley.” Every time I start making this recipe, I can’t shake that tune out of my head. Though Emily doesn’t bring it for lunch everyday any more, it’s still one of her favorites. At the shop, grown-ups like it, too.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Spanish onion, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 parsnips, peeled and grated
1^1/4 cups pearl barley
10 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 bunch fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat a stockpot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, celery, and carrots. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the parsnips, barley, stock, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes and chicken and simmer for 20 minutes longer. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Remove from the heat and stir in the dill, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Makes 12 servings. A child who is tired of the usual lunchbox fare of sandwiches and apples might appreciate varying the menu with soup. Start with a sturdy thermos. In the morning, when you are packing lunch, reheat the soup in the microwave and pour it into the thermos. Chilled soup can be poured right from the refrigerator into the Thermos. Make sure to include a spoon, a napkin, and fun garnishes to float in the soup, such as cheese cubes or goldfish-shaped crackers.