This is what I was supposed to have for supper yesterday, according to the weekly plan. But I was way too pooped and felt way too full to prepare that, so I saved it for tonight. It’s a good thing I did, because that risotto sure takes a while to make. A good hour. It’s really worth it though.

If you like barley, this is one dish you are going to loooooove. You make it pretty much the same way you do risotto: brown an onion in a skillet with some good olive oil, add your barley and seasoning, roast your barley for a minute or two and start adding warm vegetable stock, a ladle at a time, until it absorbs, then add another ladle. You keep adding stock, stirring almost constantly, until the barley is cooked and tender. It takes about 50 minutes. When it’s almost done, say after 35-40 minutes, you can add diced vegetables, such as carrots and celery and mushrooms.

Throw in some fresh parsley when fully cooked and serve immediately. You will need about a cup of dry barley to feed 4 people.

It was the first time I ever tried that tonight. Trust me, it was not the last.

I will try and write down a proper recipe soon!

My daughter didn’t really care to try the barley because risotto is not her favorite, so she had courgettes with her fish instead. However, she had a taste of the barley while it was sitting in the pan, she said she would have some next time, if I didn’t do the mushrooms (she absolutely despises mushrooms, and I can respect that). So guess what? Next time, there will be no mushrooms. Broccoli, perhaps?

I took a bunch of photos tonight, if you care to watch more, there here!