January 19th, 2014
Rehoboth Beach Eats! How About Some Pearl Barley Tonight?, Pearl Barley-Mushroom Casserole, Easy Recipe, Delaware Beaches, Southern Delaware
Well, well, well…for the past few weeks we have been into pearl barley in my household. Before that, a total investigation on steel cut oatmeal took effect. We are still eating a lot of kale…shakes, baked, you name it.
I have a good, easy and tasty recipe for you but first let me tell you a bit about pearl barley.
Pearl Barley originated in Ethiopia and Southeast Asia. When cooked it has the consistency of pasta, rice? It is a very versatile cereal grain. The health benefits are too long to mention here. You might want to research it yourselves. But, it does have a very low glycemic index, and decreases the risk of colon cancer. Very good for people with heart disease. So much more, though.
When the 50 pounds of barley arrived at my doorstep, the UPS man had to be helped. The bag, as you can observe from my photo takes half of my small refrigerator. It will take a whole year, eating every day to consume that amount of pearl barley.
The following recipe turned out so good, that I do have to share it. The first time I made it, I used my convection oven to speed the cooking process. It turned out very good, but dryer than cooking it in the conventional oven like I did the second time. I did add more mushrooms than was required by the recipe. I think it is a very good recipe, just by itself or as a side dish for any of your meats.
PEARL BARLEY CASSEROLE
1/4 cup butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
8 1/2 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 cups chicken broth (I used low sodium broth)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add mushrooms and chopped onion. Saute until lightly browned. Add barley and brown lightly, stirring. Add salt and pepper, then, turn into a buttered 3-quart casserole.
Pour chicken broth into the skillet and cook until hot. Pour over the barley mixture and mix well.
Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until barley is tender. It took about 1 hour and 45 minutes in my oven. Check it occasionally, and add more broth if needed.
The recipe says it serves 6, but if you use it as a side dish, it does serve 8 people. Enjoy!!
For our leftovers the next day, the casserole was reheated and the barley was served with a fried egg on it for breakfast.
Note: In researching pearl barley I found this website for recipes. It looks great! http://www.whfoods.com/recipestoc.php.
Tags: Barley-Mushroom Casserole, Delaware, Delaware Beaches, Easy Recipe, Healthy Recipe, Low Glycemic Index, Low in Carbs, Low in Sodium, Pearl Barley, Pearl Barley Casserole, Recipe, Recipes, Rehoboth Beach Eats, Southern Delaware, Sussex County, Visiting Rehoboth Beach
Hi Gloria,
I love barley. I’m going to try this recipe.
Looks delicious! Thanks!
Looks yummy! I want to try it.
Yes!
Let me know how you like and remember to make it your own.