Barley Pilaf

     When I was a kid potatoes were on the dinner plate every night.  By the time I got to high school, I had badgered my mother enough that she sometimes prepared rice; but I had to hear, "Your father doesn't like rice," on each of these occasions.
     Around that time, women were entered the work force, and they didn't feel like washing, peeling, boiling, and mashing potatoes.  Besides instant mashed potatoes, the "go to" for a busy wife, there were also instant au gratins and instant scalloped spuds.  Once the couponing craze started, Mom ventured into whipping up pasta salad mixes ("Tastes like garlic flavored rubber bands," critiqued my father) and Near East couscous.  If the final cost was less than a quarter after applying the double coupon, the box was tossed into the shopping cart.
     As they say, what goes around, comes around.  I confess to buying Near East couscous, but instant potatoes of any kind are verboten in this house.  White rice loses its nutritional value in processing, so much so that the federal government requires it to be enriched with B-vitamins and iron.  All those starchy mixes contain loads of sodium.  We're back to eating starches with 45+ minute prep times.
     Barley is a good carbohydrate.  Most of the barley available is the "pearled" or polished variety.  That means the husk has been removed.  Without the fibrous husk, barley cooks faster and keeps longer.  Unlike rice, barley retains most of it's nutritional value after the husk is removed.  A cup of cooked, pearled barley contains 193 calories, but only 6 of these calories come from fat.  This one cup portion also contains 6 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, and 12% of an adult's daily requirement of iron.  Barley is a zero cholesterol food.
     Here's the recipe for barley pilaf from the back of a bag of Jack Rabbit pearled barley:

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup pearled barley
2 tsp. olive oil
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbs. green onion
1/2 tsp. crushed, dried rosemary
2 tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

Method: Heat olive oil in a sauce pan.  Add mushrooms and saute until limp.  Add barley broth, green onion, and rosemary.  bring to a boil.  reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until barley is tender and the liquid is absorbed.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

     I doodled around with this recipe and came up with a heartier pilaf.  I sliced and sauteed (in olive oil) a 10 ounce box of mushrooms, one clove crushed garlic, two diced carrots, and two ribs of chopped celery.  Then I added 1 cup of barley, 3 cups of beef broth, and salt and pepper.
     It doesn't go from box to table in 15 minutes, but you can thrown in a load of laundry, wash dishes, and dust the living room while it simmers.