Monday, March 24, 2008

Barley Primavera

Finally! I say finally because Chad was supposed to make this last Thursday to go along with our chicken and apple sausages while I was at a class. But, time got the best of him and it just didn't work out. So we ended up eating Arbys. He made one over the weekend to bring to mom's for Easter, but it got left behind. On the counter. So that one went into the trash.

So tonight I decided to do our original Thursday menu. I baked the sausages and served this alonside them.
I credit Chad for finding the recipe on Allrecipes though I cooked this one tonight. If you are a barley lover, this is a recipe for you. The lemon add a nice burst of tanginess, and the zucchini is still very crisp since it goes in at the end.

Barley Primavera

4 cups low fat, low sodium chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3)
1/2 cup red onion, minced
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup diced zucchini
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
**1/2 cup chopped crimini mushrooms

DIRECTIONS
Heat 1/4 cup of the broth in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. (I added 1 tbs. butter and 1 tsp. olive oil to pot sauteed carrots, mushrooms, onions for 5 minutes, threw in the barley and garlic and sauteed a few mintues more. Then I added the broth. I skipped the olive oil at the end.)
Add the remaining broth and bring to a boil. Add the barley, lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the liquid is almost absorbed, about 50 minutes.
Add the zucchini, parsley, oil, and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 more minutes; season with salt and pepper.

6 comments:

Rachel said...

I've been wanting to try barley that's not in a soup - this might be something for us! :)

Sarah said...

I've been looking for some good side dishes. I'm going to have to try this one out.

Anonymous said...

This looks yummy! I'm not sure if I've tried anything like this before. I'm glad you finally got to eat it!

Kayte said...

this looks and sounds amazing! i have a box of barley in my cabinet and i've never made it before. i was hoping to come across a great way to make it. and here it is! i'll defintiely be trying this :)

That Girl said...

I am so loving this new barley as a side trend. I really need to jump on the bandwagon.

Erin said...

That looks really tasty! I bet it will be great in the summer, with some meat from the grill. Oh, or maybe chunks of chicken could be added in for a 1-dish meal. I have to try this :)