Beef and Barley Soup

I received this recipe from Rachel Dansie years ago. It is still one of my favorites.

1 lb ground beef
Salt
Pepper
Onion
1 clove garlic
2-3 stalks celery, diced
3-4 carrots, sliced
2-3 potatoes, diced
1/2 c barley (not instant)
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
6-8 cups water
boullion cubes (1 per cup water)
1 12 oz can V8

Brown ground beef with onion, salt, pepper and garlic. Transfer to soup pot. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer for a long time.

You can add more vegetables if it seems to soupy or adjust spices to taste. After simmering mix a little corn starch and water to thicken.

This recipe could easily be adapted to a crockpot.

Wild Rice and Barley Salad

This is a recipe I tried more than a week ago. I was looking for a good barley recipe and this appealed to me. Our family liked it and I will make it again because it is a tasty way to prepare this grain. I especially liked it for lunch the next day and Dale said he liked it better the next day as well. I made some substitutions based on personal taste and they are shown below.

I believe we both agreed it could use a little salt and I liked it with a little more red wine vinegar on it. Here is what my salad looked like.


















Here is what the original recipe looks like.

Wild Rice and Barley Salad

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In addition to fiber, whole grains like wild and brown rice offer plenty of vitamins B6, E, and folate to maintain heart health. Serve with pork tenderloin.

Yield

8 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup)

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown and wild rice mix
• 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 3/4 cup rinsed and drained canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) (I used small white beans instead.)
  
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (I omitted.)
  
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Spoon rice mixture into a medium bowl. Add chickpeas, raisins, and green onions.

Combine vinegar and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Pour over barley mixture; toss well. Cover; chill 2 hours. Stir in basil and almonds.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 146 (14% from fat)

Fat: 2.3g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 5g

Carbohydrate: 27.6g

Fiber: 4.3g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Iron: 1.2mg

Sodium: 235mg

Calcium: 29mg

Jaime Harder, MA, RD, Cooking Light, JANUARY 2008