Almost every morning I make myself oatmeal for breakfast. But recently I bought whole, organic barley (don’t get “pearled” as it’s processed and you lose nutritional value, more on that in a minute) and came home to experiment.
For some reason, the universe believes in dramatically overcooking most foods and everything I looked at told me to cook it for something like 2 hours, which is just plain ridiculous. Who has time for that (besides Julia and Martha)? I gotta cook and get to work!
So the first time I tried it I put 1/3 cup of barley and 2/3 cups of water in a pan and cooked it for about 10 minutes. It came out just fine: chewy, fragrant (smells a bit like a nutty, buttery pasta — or fresh baked bread!) and delicious. I poured it over some strawberries, sprinkled on some flax seeds, and I was in breakfast heaven.
The next time I tried it I put the barley on to soak overnight. When I looked at it the next morning, it had completely absorbed all the water, so I added another 1/3 cup of water, cooked it until that water was mostly absorbed, and again: delicious! More tender this time, and less cooking involved.
In the picture above I’ve also added some blanched, slivered almonds. Sheer delight.
The nutritional value is outstanding. Check this deal (numbers for 1/4 cup):
- 160 calories
- 1 g fat (mostly the “good,” monounsaturated kind)
- no cholesterol
- 33 carbs
- 8 g fiber (you get to subtract your fiber from your carbs, woot)
- 5 g protein
It’s an excellent source of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. And it tastes awesome.
Go ye and try it. And don’t forget to report back!
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