Swap out the usual rice or pasta with nutty chewy barley with scallions and mushrooms.

Barley is one of the forgotten grains. Outside of soup, barley is an after thought or not a thought at all. It is an incredibly nutrient dense grain, packed with protien, fiber, potassium, folate, b vitamins and selenium. Valued for it’s role in a heart healthy diet, barley should make it to the dinner table more often.

Fun bit of trivia: barley is the earliest domesticated grain and it found across global cuisines, due to it’s ease of cultivation.

How do you cook barley?

Barley cooks very similar to rice. If you’ve cooked rice, you’re ready to cook barley.

Rinse your barley. Barley can be dusty, many grains can be and there is a very technical term for it: grain dust.

Although the dangers of grain dust are more apparent to those processing your barley, there are still trace amounts left on ready to cook barley. A few rinses under cold water is enough to get your ancient grain ready for eating.

Typically you need 1 cup dry barley for 2.5 cups cold water. But depending on how hot your stove runs and how quick the summer is on your stove top you may need to check halfway through cooking and add more water.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups dry barley

3 3/4 cold water

1/4 tsp salt

2 small bay leaves

1 cup chopped mushrooms (fine mince and chunky pieces. However you feel like it that day)

2 small carrots, peeled and diced finely

1 small shallot, finely minced

3 tbsp neutral oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 large or 4 small scallions, cut into small rings, whites and greens (set aside)

Method:

Rinse barley and set barley to to boil in 3 3/4 cup cold water with salt and bay leaves.

In a pan large enough to mix in the barley after cooking brown off mushrooms, carrots and shallots. Season to taste.

Once the barley is cooked add it to the pan with the browned vegetables. Mix and add in the fresh scallions.

taste for salt and enjoy warm, room temperature or even cold.