Barley. I must admit right from the start that I don’t use this grain in my cooking very often. And why so? After all, it is a healthy grain, packed with fiber (among other stuff). The thing is, I’ve only known to prepare it in a winter-type stew – and then I run out of ideas. I’ve now put an end to this and decided to implement it into our daily food (OK, I’m only at the beginning with it!), so I’ve set myself on a barley recipe hunt.

A couple of days ago, when I intended to prepare a very loved meal in our household, veggie&chicken stir-fry with basmati rice, I said to myself – why not barley instead of rice? Being a first-time dish, I made it for myself only, because I yet need to find a good enough way to approach this grain to my fellow eater.

The barley I used was hulled, not pearled (follow this link for an explanation about the difference, plus you can also find some barley recipes there!). It took about 50 minutes to cook in my express-pressure cooker and still retained its chewiness.

I used plenty of vegetables for this stir-fry: savoy cabbage, carrot, green peas, mushrooms, red onion, leek and fennel. A few slices of cooked chicken and stripes of an egg omelette also went inside the wok (towards the end of cooking), together with some cooked barley. I seasoned the dish with grated ginger and with the mix of soy sauce and honey and this delicious stir-fry was ready!

I think I’ve made quite a good use of barley in this recipe!   Furthermore, I’ve also prepared savoy cabbage parcels, stuffed with barley, mushrooms and chicken and topped with Bechamel sauce and grated cheese, then browned in the oven (for a better image, think of this recipe ). Yummy-licious!