Barley - - a Superfood?

I just have to share one of the best recipes (see: food blogger in the making!) I've made in a while (I haven't been much of a gourmet lately due to the lack of food shopping, I live in NJ and every other day it seems like we have a snowstorm. anyway...)

So first I'd like to mention that while I love where I live, it isn't conducive to traveling to/from my workplace everyday. This is where the part where my limited food supply comes in.  I stay at my parents who are about 20 minutes from work (on a good day) but in NJ there are rarely "good" travel days, especially on the lovely Garden State Parkway. It sounds like a nice little highway, doesn't it? Too bad once you hit central Jersey, it changes over to very industrial looking. The southern half of the state is much lovelier :) (off topic, wow you'll get used to that!) So where was I....the limited food supply.  My parents and I definitely have different eating preferences.  My mom has done her fair share of cooking and now that they are older, they just eat whatever the hell they want, whether it be Taylor Ham, breakfast for dinner, pizza, fried chicken...not the best diet for a girl who's metabolism is slowly degenerating as she gets older. And I really have been trying to avoid crap foods, if we are going to label the type foods that they eat.

I had left work early the other day due to being in the office alone (it was really creepy) and the snow storm. When I got home to their house, I was searching through the cabinets to see what I could pull together.  I found Goya Barley and decided to browse pinterest for some recipes...I ultimately ended up going with the recipe on the back of the bag! So before I delve into that, let me list why barely is actually a really great food for you:

For More Information: GO HERE

Now onto the recipe (that is on the back of the Goya bag!!) SO EASY.

Barley Mushroom Pilaf   

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 242 calories, 7g protein, 7g fat, 40g carbohydrate, 4mg cholesterol, 11g fiber, 790mg sodium

Ingredients                     

1/2 cup sliced fresh button mushrooms
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup pearl barley
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (i used 2 cups Swanson's NO MSG 33% less sodium broth, 1 cup water)
2 tablespoons chopped green onion (i used onion - worked fine! limited items!)
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary (it was okay without it, again, didn't have!)
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat olive oil in saucepan; add mushrooms and sauté until limp. Add barley, broth, green onion and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 45 minutes or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over pilaf and serve. 

This was a hearty four servings.  Low in calories, if you do the original recipe, for some people, the sodium is high.  If you use sodium free broth obviously that will bring that down! My one suggestion (based on what I went through), is to maybe try using a non-stick pot? I used a regular old pot and found the barely started to stick to the bottom after being on the stove for 20-30 minutes. Maybe the non-stick coating will help with that, but I'm no professional. 

It came out really well. Of course I loaded up the Parmesan cheese. It adds such great flavor.  I can't wait to make this again in my own home, I think the green onions will be really good, plus they make everything look better!  I had this around 4pm, napped after shoveling, and woke up and went to the gym for 3 HOURS. Oh my lanta! I did 3 miles on the treadmill, actually running the middle 2 miles (so proud!!), swam (best cardio for me), and Gentle Yoga.  I felt like this really was the best food for me prior to the gym.

Have you ever had barley? What are some of your favorite recipes?