Beet and Barley Bake

One of the things I love to do on the weekend is drive to one of my favorite farmer stands. These are the storefronts that generally don't make an appearance at our weekly farmer's market.

I found this gorgeous bunch of beets for $1.59 and brought them home.

We're expecting snow this week, so you can imagine the chilly temperatures around here--a great excuse to use the oven! I wanted to do an easy barley risotto in the oven, and the beets seemed like a perfect accompaniment. Here's what I did:


Beet & Barley Bake
serves 4

1 bunch beets (about 5 large) with greens and stalks
olive oil
1 small yellow onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 pound barley, sorted and rinsed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground red (cayenne) pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup hot water

Separate greens and stalks from beet bulbs; set aside beet bulbs and rinse greens and stalks thoroughly. Chop greens and stalks well. Pat dry with paper towels.

In a saucepan, saute onion in olive oil until transparent; add chopped beet greens and stalks and saute until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Peel beet bulbs and chop as desired; smaller beets can be quartered, and larger ones may be sliced.

Lightly grease (I used olive oil) a large oven-safe casserole dish and add barley. Top with chopped beets, then sauteed beet greens. Sprinkle with oregano, thyme, ground red pepper and parmesan cheese. Pour chicken broth and water over and stir to distribute.

Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for 45-60 minutes, or until barley is puffed and tender.


It became a lovely pink casserole of chewy barley, sweet, tender roasted beets and greens. The cayenne pepper added a lightly spicy note that builds nicely for a slow heat.

The beet flavor is definitely a strong presence--one that Mr.W didn't entirely care for.

What a surprise, right? He's too picky. Don't take Mr.W's opinion--it's good!

Chicken-Escarole Orzotto

It might not be pretty, but it is soooooo goooooood. Orzotto is risotto made with barley instead of rice. (Thanks to An Italian in the US for alerting me to the correct term!)

As you may have read before, my city is very Italian-American, and we love escarole—in greens dishes and in soup. It’s a hearty lettuce that retains some texture even after prolonged cooking (unlike spinach, which can get a little slimy). And that made it perfect for this dish.


Chicken-Escarole Orzotto
serves 2 or 3

1 can fat-free vegetarian vegetable broth
1/3 cup your favorite spaghetti sauce
Hot water
Olive oil
3 cups chopped escarole, washed and drained
1/2 cup pearled barley
3 large cloves garlic, minced
Pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1-1/2 cups cooked chicken meat

The first thing to do is combine the vegetable broth, spaghetti sauce and about 1 cup of water in a saucepan on a very low flame. You want your liquid to be warm—kept just under the simmering point—to make your cooking process go that much more smoothly. In addition to this pot of broth, I like to keep a teapot full of hot water on in case I need extra liquid. And I usually do.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium flame, then add olive oil to coat the bottom. When the oil comes to a shimmer, add escarole and fry until well wilted.

Push the escarole to the edges of the pan to expose the center bottom. Pour in barley and heat 1 minute, then push it to the sides and add garlic. Fry, stirring, until fragrant (30 seconds to 1 minute).

Now comes the fun part.

Add about 1/2 cup broth mixture. Stir constantly until liquid is absorbed. Then add more, and again stir constantly until liquid is absorbed. Continue this process until no more liquid is absorbed. It may take 30-40 minutes, so don’t be discouraged!

Taste and season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Go easy on the salt because the cheeses will add more salty goodness.

Add cheeses and chicken; stir until combined and melted.

Now here is where a tv chef or uber-blogger would suggest adding fresh herbs for some bright green beauty added to the dish. I didn’t have any fresh herbs, so I didn’t use any.


And as ugly as this dish is, it is so creamy, just lightly spicy and full of texture. Just right for a late supper while watching Heroes.

Risotto Style Barley or Quinoa and Easy Pumpkin Pudding

Another Tuesday, another ladies' luncheon.

I've been reading about risotto a lot. I've never had it or made it--mainly because it calls for arborio rice. And white rice makes my sugar skyrocket! So even though it looks interesting and all taste reports are nothing short of raves, I just could not see myself making or trying it.

Until yesterday.

I ran across a blog that featured Barley made risotto-style with great results. Then I wondered if I could do the same with quinoa--yes, recipes exist! So I knew I was on the verge of an idea.

So this morning I got up early and made two kinds of risotto--one with barley, the other with quinoa, but both with the same other ingredients. My plan was to stuff the risotto fillings into baked acorn squash halves for today's lunch for my five guests and I.

Personally I found the flavor of the barley version much more satisfying. Perhaps it was because of the size of the grain--larger than quinoa, it certainly absorbed much more broth (=flavor), and the texture was very nice. It even seemed creamier.

For dessert, I served a lovely Easy Pumpkin Pudding I concocted very quickly using sugar-free instant pudding as a starting point. What a treat, and delicious, to boot!

All in all, a long morning--but so worth it!

Risotto-Style Barley or Quinoa

As you may already know, risotto doesn't often have much of a recipe per se as a method. It is the method of cooking rather than a rule. So I'll share with you the procedure that I used, along with ingredients, as best as I can.

about 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 large onion, diced

1 pound white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup barley or quinoa, rinsed well

several cups chicken broth (amount depends on which grain you use; I used a combination of homemade chicken broth and tomato-chicken bullion, with a little red wine tossed in for good measure)

3 cups sliced cooked chicken

1/2 cup milk (I used 2% milk)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. In a hot stock pot or dutch oven set over a medium flame, add a good drizzle of olive oil (I'd guess about 2 tablespoons) and butter. Immediately add onion and mushrooms. Stir to coat all veggies with a coating of oil/butter mixture; continue to cook until mushrooms give up their liquid.

2. Stir in garlic and barley or quinoa. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. Ladle in (my ladle is about 1/2 cup volume) more broth and stir until the liquid is absorbed. (Note: I kept a large pot of my broth on a very low flame--just warm, not even a simmer--on a back burner so it was warm when I added it. This is an important step so you don't have to wait as long.) Continue this process of adding broth and stirring until liquid is absorbed until the grains will no longer absorb all of the liquid. You will know when you're getting close to that stage by tasting the grains as you go--when they are almost done, the texture will be al dente.

3. Stir in chicken, milk and parmesan cheese and cover; remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. At this point, I covered the pan and put it in the oven to hold until lunchtime--but you could finish from here. Serve hot on its own or inside a roasted acorn squash half or any other way you wish.

I must admit that although the presentation was lovely in the acorn squash, the flavors did not blend overly well. Next time I'll skip the squash... but both rosottos were excellent.

Easy Pumpkin Pudding

serves 8

2 boxes (4-serving size) instant pudding mix (I used sugar free vanilla--butterscotch is perfect for this recipe, too) -- Prepare with milk according to package directions FOR PIE

1 15-ounce can solid pack pumpkin

cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate overnight. Serve in pretty glasses topped with whipped cream or--like I did--a wee bit of sugar-free non-dairy hazlenut creamer. Mmm!