Barley Casserole

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

1 cup of pearl barley (8 oz)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms
2-3 slices of sweet roasted peppers, sliced
1 can of white kidney beans, drained (15 oz0
1 can of French Onion Soup (18 oz)
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
Oregano and garlic to taste

Saute onion and mushrooms in oil/butter until soft. Add barley and lightly brown it. Stire in beans and roasted peppers. Pour into buttered casserole dish. Stir in HALF of the onion soup (can also use chicken or beef stock) and cover. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove cover and add remaining liquid. Continue cooking until liquid is absorbed and barley is tender- about another 30 minutes.

[luCKy]

That sounds super yummy but lushy told me pearl barley is not good for you and I trust everything she says.

[lorisunshine]

I love barley.........tell lushy she doen't know what she is talking about....LOL

[Cinders]

Lucky,

YOU TRUST EVERYTHING LUSHY says??

What is wrong with you??

LOL.

Would you do that with your job?

I don't think so...

(However, I do love Lushy)

but do not trust everything she says...

or anyone else for that matter.

Pearl barley may be great!!!! Read up on it!!

Love,
Cindi

Your mom okay???

[lushy]

Stop trying to get me in trouble Lucky. Pearl barley is the equivalent of white rice. Hulled barley is the kind that has lots of fiber. Pearl barley is good but if you are looking for a more nutritious version you would want hulled. I actually have some pearl barley and am going to make this dish just to spite the duck!

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

Lushy, this was my very first dish with barley of any kind, and I really enjoyed it.... so if you were the Barley meister, .... you would get the hulled stuff? Would the liquid proportions be the same, or would you need more liquid?

P.S. I added chopped chicken and pesto into it for lunch, and it was delish.

[lushy]

OOh that sounds good. You know I have never cooked hulled barley and cannot find it at my grocery store. I am going to go to Whole Foods and see if they have it. As I understand it hulled barley must be soaked overnight and cooked longer so I suppose if you soaked it first you could try with this recipe and maybe add a little more liquid. Oh you have me hungry!!!!

[luCKy]

I bet MOW can tell us all about the various barleys. She knows more than even lushy does.

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

I'm trying to add more beans and grains into my diet, so I bought barley and french lentils.
Does anyone have a good recipe for french lentils? I'm totally clueless on them~ will have to go to recipes.com, but I don't know whether to look for a salad, casserole....?

[lorisunshine]

I use the "good" barley and serve it instead of rice. Usually I keep a bag of boiled barley, wild rice and brown rice in the freezer (separately). When I am in a hurry I just whip them out and toss it all together with a spoon of butter or olive oil and reheat them gently and finally throw a big spoon of freshly cut parsley over it. It makes a great side dish for just about anything.
You can also ad sesame, sunflower seeds or slivered almonds, it makes it even tastier. I had that sort of concoction in North Africa. They use Couscous. Garlic chicken on a bed of the above is heavenly.