Adventures in the kitchen: Barley stir fry

My husband knows that I am a very adventurous gal (in the kitchen!) and since he is awesome he brought home a bag of barley for us to try. Barley is amazingly healthy for you! It’s great against cholesterol, has a lot of fiber, iron, calcium and selenium! I had never eaten barley so I did not know much what to do with it. First thing I did was to just boil it as per instructions in the package and try it as it was, plain, just boiled, to have an idea of the flavor I was going to be working with. If I had to give you an idea (and I will be unfair to the real flavor) it tastes like a mix between rice and oatmeal, with strong nutty underflavors. So once I had tried it, I knew what I wanted to do with it.

 

Barley stir fry:

2 cups Boiled barley

Barley stock by tasastock.deviantart.com

1 medium onion

1 carrot

1 cup cooked corn kernels

2 cups cooked broccoli florets

2 cups cooked cut green beans

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp rice vinegar

spices: salt, pepper, ground ginger, curry, saffron, ground coriander

In a pot boil the barley for one hour before hand. Use plenty of water and keep in mind that barley expands to about 4 times it’s dry size. You might want to determine how soft you like it. I, myself, like an ‘al dente’ consistency, but my husband likes his starches soft, so I cooked for about one hour and left it cool down in its own water so it would soak up more water and become mushier.

Once the barley is done chop your vegetables and keep them at hand.

In a deep pot warm up two tablespoons of sesame oil and blanch your onions, add the carrot and cook until tender, add the rest of the vegetables and mix them well. Add some more sesame oil if it is too dry and you would like a stronger flavor.

Add the rice vinegar and the spices, mix and let the flavors blend together.

Lastly, add the boiled barley, mix thoroughly, add some more salt if needed.

Once your barley is warm, food is ready!

 

This is a delicious dish, very healthy and veggies lovers friendly. The saffron adds a unique touch to a mainly Asian flavored dish. Try it and let me know what you think!