Barley Recipes

I made a vegetarian mushroom barley soup yesterday, but I have a decent bit of leftover barley. I enjoyed cooking with it, and it has a great texture. Does anyone know any good barley recipes that don't involve beef or mushrooms? Seems like so many of the recipes I see involve beef, which my husband does not eat, and mushrooms, which I adore... but since I just made the mushroom soup, I'd like to see what else barley goes well with. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Antonia, I've loved barley risotto ever since I worked at Limestone - here's a link to a recipe for barley risotto with asparagus and parmesan: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/ ... index.html

You could substitute barley for couscous or bulgur to make tabbouleh.

Thanks for both of these, Marsha and Dan. Looks like I may substituting barley for whatever grain a recipe calls for. Risotto will probably be my first stab. I have so much couscous and bulgur in the house that I should probably hold off on the barley tabbouleh for now, although I do love making that, too.

Antonia,

I am sorry I did not see your post earlier. I picked up a very easy chilled barley recipe this past summer.

Barley cooked in (vegetable) stock chilled
Chopped up cucumber (take out the seeds)
Chopped up anise (just the root)
Some olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar
Mix it all up. I serve with some thick slices of fresh tomatoes from the farmers market.

I have been known to throw some fresh rosemary and a bay leaf in the stock while the barley cooks. Experimenting is the fun with this one. I was never given measurements I just played around with it until I had the flavor I wanted. enjoy

Barbara! That sounds delicious. I like the combination of flavors and textures. One more reason for me to pine for fresh tomato season. Thank you!

Here are the recipes from the Good Eats barley episode. I've made the lamb and barley stew and the barley salad, and both are great.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats/ju ... index.html