Barley Risotto

Barley you say? BARLEY!! Yes, barley.  This is literally a thrown together dish of what I had in my fridge and pantry.  It turned out delicious if I do say so myself, so I decided to share it with you all!  So I started with the picture of the onion, lemon, garlic, mushrooms, barley and thyme.  Then when I got into actually making it I ended up using a red onion and I threw in some tomatoes too!  Tomatoes make everything taste better!  So here is the recipe with not so exact measurements as I had to get this on the table quickly.  I eyed a lot of this so if you have any comments please feel free to leave them! 

*Check out the health benefits of barley too!!


Utensils:

spatula
saute pans
chef knife

Ingredients:

2T butter
1/4 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium-large baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2-3 roma tomatoes, diced
salt and pepper
zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 springs thyme, chopped


2c chicken stock
1t salt
1c quick barley

Saute your red onion first for a few minutes.  Then add in the garlic and lightly saute.  Add the mushrooms and continue cooking for about 5 minutes or so. (*) At this point I added my tomatoes and let them cook down for another few minutes.  Make sure you salt and pepper this to taste at this point too.  While this was all sauteeing I was making my barley.  I had bought the quick barley and I heated a little salted chicken stock and added the barley.  Cook until the barley is slightly tender.  Once all the liquid has been soaked up you can add this to your veggie mixture.   Mix in the thyme as well and let this cook together for a few minutes more.  Season again if necessary and add your lemon zest.  Stir together and serve.

*Oh and just a little FYI, I had smoked some boneless pork ribs the night before.  I diced one up and threw it in after I sauteed the onion, garlic, and mushrooms.  Let this saute for a few minutes, then follow the rest of the directions.  You could also use cooked chicken or shrimp.

The smoked pork ribs

Healthy Barley:
http://www.barleyfoods.org/nutrition.html
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/benefits-of-barley-6160.html


Oh and just a little sweet treat I made in between for St. Patty's Day....

Guinness cupcake, Jameson ganache filling, and Bailey's buttercream