Farro and Pearl Barley continued...

If you are like me you will have childhood memories of the ubiquitous pearl barley. It was always the standard addition to our mothers homemade vegetable soup, often boiled so long it turned to mush. But (luckily for us) it is now appearing in so many different other ways. I really love the texture of this nutritious grain (note my risotto post using pearl barley). I looks like I'm in a bit of a grain phase at the moment! 

Last week I found myself with the remaining pieces of a 2kg pumpkin. I also had an ongoing problem with a large hoard of things in my pantry, space was limited, so the thinking cap went on. What to produce that would deal with the pumpkin and hopefully use up some of the items that keep tumbling out of my pantry. Low and behold this recipe appeared in our Sunday paper. It is totally delicious and should be very appealing to any lover of vegetables and if you make some adjustments prefect for my gluten free and vegan friends and of course leaving out the meat, to vegetarians!
The recipe is in the similar vein to the Farro recipe I posted last month. However, this one uses pearl barley which has the advantage of being easier to find and is a little less expensive than Farro. The whole meal would work out to be less than $10. The addition of smoked paprika sits nicely with the chorizo and gives the dish a different sort of flavour. Sorry I do not have a photo of the final dish but the recipe is detailed below.
Yesterday I cooked another dish along a similar vein - created by Ginny Grant in Cuisine -  but you add 2tbsp of pomegranate molasses and 1tbsp of olive oil to the cooked warm grain (for this I used a mixture of farro and pearl barley) and the pumpkin was roasted with 1tbsp of pomegranate molasses. Two roast onions are added and a little feta crumbled on top of the salad. I served it as a vegetarian main but for meat lovers it would be great as a side with BBQ lamb.
I finished the dish with a garnish of fresh pomegranate seeds, it looked lovely and tasted delicious. In fact the bowl was almost licked clean!
http://cuisine.co.nz/cuisine.nsf/recipes/farro-roasted-pumpkin-red-onion-salad?Opendocument&HighLight=2,farro,roasted,pumpkin
So give these grains a try, they add a wonderful chewy texture to your salads and definitely make a change from rice and couscous salads for the summer BBQ's.
Warm pearl barley, roasted pumpkin and chorizo salad

Fiona Smith – SST November 2013

Ingredients

1/2 - 3/4 cup pearl barley

1 kg pumpkin, peeled and cubed 2cm (drizzle with honey for a sweeter flavour if desired)

1 tsp dried oregano or 1tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

Juice and finely grated zest from a lemon

2 tsp red or white wine vinegar

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ c pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds)

200g chorizo, slice 1cm (leave out if vegetarian dish preferred)

½ cup fresh coriander chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Rinse pearl barley under cold water and drain. Cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain.

Toss the pumpkin with the oregano and oil and season with salt.

Spread out on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook in oven for

20-25 minutes, turning once, until tender.

In a large serving bowl, whisk together paprika, lemon juice and zest,

vinegar and extra virgin olive oil then stir in warm barley and mix well.

Heat a fry pan over a medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and cook for a minute shaking

the pan, until they pop. Set aside.

Heat the pan or grill till hot, cook the chorizo for 2-3 minutes on each side until brown.

Add the pumpkin, chorizo and coriander to the pearl barley mix and toss all together.

Sprinkle with pumpkins seeds and serve.

Serves 4-6

Note – Gluten free option - substitute gluten free chorizo and quinoa for barley

Farro, pearl barley, roast pumpkin and onion salad with pomegranate

Pearl Barley Risotto - delish

I had 'simple, nutritious, but untried recipe' on my mind when I thumbed through my recipe books for ideas for a one pot Vegetarian dish that would appeal to a (nearly) seven year old and, as the three adults were eating at different sitting times, would be ok to reheat later in the evening. 
I grabbed my new recipe book Jerusalem, it is a visual feast in itself and this recipe really appealed to me, it ticked all the boxes and I had everything I needed in my pantry and fridge (believe it or not). Plus - I was feeling a little adventurous and took the chance that it would be ok cooked in a slow cooker (which meant I could turn it on and basically forget about it and get on with reading my new book). 
If you decide to use your slow cooker for this recipe, you may need to reduce the stock (I thought it looked a bit too sloppy so removed about 100ml). Using my slow cooker guidelines for cooking pulses I cooked the dish on high for about 4 hours, tested the barley, then lowered the temperature to low for the last 2 hours. (Every slow cooker is a little different so it would pay to check accordingly). It was declared delicious (even after the late comer warmed it through in the microwave). And by the way - the little one loved it - not a speck left on her plate. 
Note: It can be easily adapted as a Vegan dish, leaving out the butter and using toasted Pumpkin or Pine nuts for garnish instead of feta cheese.
I used baked cauliflower as a side dish. Just lightly spray a layer of raw cauliflower 'florets' in a roasting dish lined with baking paper and bake at a high temperature until lightly browned - so much tastier than boiled or steamed cauliflower and it complements this dish well. To accommodate those in  need of a bit more protein, I added some cubed stir fried chicken.
Overall a simple, nutritious, tasty combination of flavours.
As an aside I find it amusing to see that kitchen enamelware is making a bit of a comeback. I own some old relics from childhood family camping days and as you can see some of my pieces are a bit battered. They are still used on a regular basis. I just love them! 

The risotto captured with the last bit of evening light

Barley Risotto with Marinated Feta - from Jerusalem – Ottolenghi & Tamimi Pub 2012

Ingredients

200g pearl barley

30g unsalted butter

90ml olive oil

2 small celery stalks, 5mm dice

2 small shallots, 5mm dice

4 garlic cloves – 2mm dice

4 fresh thyme sprigs

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 bay leaf

4 strips of lemon rind

¼ tsp chilli flakes

salt

400g tin chopped tomatoes

700ml vegetable stock

300ml passata

1tbsp caraway seeds

300g feta, broken roughly into 2 cm pieces

1tbsp fresh oregano leaves

Method

Rinse the pearl barley under cold water and leave to drain.

Melt the butter and 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a very large frying pan and cook the celery, shallot & garlic on a gentle heat for 5 mins until soft. Add the barley, thyme, paprika, bay leaf, lemon rind, chilli flakes, tomatoes, stock, passata and ½ tbsp salt. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a very gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure the risotto does not catch on the bottom of the pan. When ready, the barley should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed.

Meanwhile toast the caraway seeds in a dry pan for a couple of minutes. Then lightly crush them so that some whole seeds remain. Add them to the feta with the remaining olive oil and gently mix to combine.

Once the risotto is ready, check the seasoning and then divide between four shallow bowls. Top each with the feta mix and a sprinkling of oregano leaves.

The risotto with chicken and baked cauliflower