What a wonderful combination of grain, vegetable and herb. Barley has a wonderful nutty, chewy texture and can be used for more than just soups. I came across a recipe when looking for a side to go with my pork roast. I made some additions and revisions to suit my taste.

Mushrooms are optional, fresh Rosemary is not. Try to use butter as it adds a wonderful flavor to the dish. Always use fresh herbs for ultimate flavor. This dish is so filling and healthy; it can be eaten by itself as lunch. You can add any vegetable such as spinach to make it your own. Eat Healthy, enjoy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of canned reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 2/3 cup medium pearl barley, rinsed in cold water
• 3 leeks (white and light green part only)
• 1/2 lb button mushrooms sliced (if you prefer not to add mushrooms omit this step and add butter to oil to saute leeks.)
• 1 – 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup of freshly grated Swiss, Comte or Apple smoked Gruyere cheese

Directions

1. Bring vegetable broth to a boil, add rinsed barley cover and cook barley in vegetable broth until tender about 25 minutes. Do not drain.
2. Preheat oven to 375 F – spray a 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray
3. Slice mushrooms
4. Slice off root and dark green leaves of leeks, slice the remaining white part lengthwise. Run under cool water to remove sand between leaves.
5. Slice leeks into thin slices
6. Remove rosemary leaves from stems by pulling downward with thumb and finger, chop fine.
7. Heat butter in pan until melted, add mushroom, cook until brown, remove from pan
8. Heat oil in same pan until hot, add leeks and cook on medium-high heat until limp, about 10 minutes, add rosemary and garlic, cook for about 1 minute more, add barley, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
9. Stir in half cheese of your choosing
10. Transfer barley mixture to baking dish
11. Sprinkle with remaining cheese
12. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated and bubbly

    8 servings – Weight Watcher friendly at 4 points. per 1/2 cup

Tagged: Sides