Barley "Risotto" with Rosemary Focaccia

My husband loves barley and  always says I don't make it enough.  I'm not sure why that is.  Perhaps it's because the kids don't love it as much as he does or maybe it's the time it takes to make it.  After his request for barley for tonight's dinner, I came up with this after browsing many recipes.  If you have all the veggies chopped and ready to go in advance, the recipe isn't as time-consuming prep-wise.  Whether you use water or stock for this recipe doesn't really matter, as long as you have at least 5 to 6 cups of liquid.  This time I used half water and half chicken broth and also added a chicken bouillon cube for some extra flavour.
This makes a very large batch of barley.  This will easily serve 6 people as a main dish with even some for leftovers.
I paired this with a rosemary focaccia bread that tasted great dipped in this barley (and was the real star for the kids).

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 pkg (227g) sliced cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
1 cup pot barley, rinsed
5-6 cups liquid (water and/or broth)
1 bouillon cube (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 pkg chopped spinach, thawed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp dried dill weed
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, until tender but not browned.  Add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until they release their juices, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

2. Add the barley and stir to coat.  Add your liquid (start with 5 cups) and soy sauce and bring to a boil; add the bouillon cube if using.    Reduce the heat to low, simmering gently.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.

3. Add the carrots, celery and dill. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Add the spinach and chickpeas, cooking for another 5-10 minutes, until barley and vegetables are tender.  Add more liquid if necessary to ensure the barley doesn't stick.  There should be a small amount of liquid left and the barley should have a bit of a "bite" to it. (If you'd like this "risotto" to have more of a soup-like consistency, add even more liquid [ideally stock for more flavour].) 

4. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.

Rosemary Focaccia
This is really quick to prepare if you have dough ready to go (homemade or store bought).  The dough recipe below will make two round pizzas or one large rectangular one.  If you are dividing it in half, you can easily refrigerate it overnight or freeze for up to 2 months.  If you are freezing it for later use, wrap the dough in plastic wrap first and then place in a freezer bag.  To thaw, unwrap the dough and place it on a plate for about 3 hours to let it reach room temperature.  Before using the dough make sure it is at room temperature. 

Ingredients:
2-1/4 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1-1/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3-1/2 cups flour

Focaccia topping
1 tbsp cornmeal
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh rosemary
coarse sea salt
black pepper

Directions:
1. In a bowl put the water, sugar and yeast and let it stand until foamy (about 10 minutes). 
2. Add the salt, olive oil and flour and mix using the dough hook until it comes together.   I find it best to knead the dough with my hands for a bit to form it into a smooth ball. 
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down.  Knead into a smooth cylinder and divide it in half.  Knead each half to form 2 smooth balls, dusting with flour if sticking.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. To make one round rosemary focaccia, you will use one ball.  Lightly grease a round pizza tray and sprinkle with corn meal.  Place the dough on the prepared sheet and stretch the dough from the center outward to the edges of the pan.  (If the dough is too tight, let it rest for another 10 minutes before trying again.)  Cover the flattened dough with a damp kitchen towel and let rise for 15 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 450F.   Make dimples in the dough with your fingertips.  Drizzle with olive oil and spread around.  Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. 
7. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Cut the focaccia into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

Veggie Risotto

My husband grew up on rice, but I get bored of it quite easily.  We didn't eat rice very often at home unless it was risotto.  So every once in awhile I will make a risotto (usually mushrooms) because that pleases everyone.  I was visiting my nonna and she was talking about a zucchini-saffron risotto she made and I thought to myself Why not try something like that??

So while this is in no way her recipe, it was definitely inspired by her!  While my LO tried to pick out some of the vegetables, overall it was a huge success with everyone in the house!

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, halved and chopped (or quartered if it's a big one)
2 small green peppers, seeded and sliced
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1.5 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
3-4 tbsp butter, separated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or mixed with Asiago cheese)

Directions:

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan.  (If you don't have chicken stock handy, use a bouillon cube in boiling water.  Make sure you follow the package instructions and make enough for the risotto).

2. Saute onions until translucent over medium heat in oil and butter.

3. Add garlic and pepper and saute for a few more minutes until tender.

4.  Add zucchini and tomato and cook until softened; add more butter if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add 1 tbsp butter and rice and stir until rice becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.

6.  Add 1/2 cup white wine and stir until absorbed.  Add chicken stock by the ladleful/s and stir until absorbed.  Continue to add stock until the rice is cooked, about 45-50 minutes.

7.  Remove from heat, add 1 tbsp butter, then the freshly grated Parmesan (and Asiago) cheese.  Stir.  Season with salt if necessary.

This serves great with a nice salad or even bruschetta as a side.

Veggie Risotto

The yummy bruschetta side dish

A Vegetarian Dinner

Tonight was a meat free dinner with some delicious vegetarian options: eggplant pizza and baked broccoli.  Both recipes required the use of the oven, so I started with the eggplant and while it was cooking I prepped the broccoli.  When the eggplant was ready to be taken out of the oven, I put the broccoli in and topped the eggplant slices.  I then turned the oven to broil on high and put the eggplant back in beside the broccoli for about 5 minutes.  When it was ready, I left the broccoli to cook again at 425 for whatever time was left.

Baked Broccoli
This makes a great side dish to any meal and it's really easy to put together.

Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli, washed and cut into pieces
2-4 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to season
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp cheese (Parmesan or Asiago are my favourites), shredded or grated
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lemon, zest and juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Spray a 8x8" baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper until the broccoli is coated.  Add the bread crumbs and 2 tbsp cheese; stir again.  Transfer to the baking dish.  Make sure you add all the crumbs in the bowl to the top of the broccoli.  (Easy clean-up option: Combine all the ingredients in a large ziploc bag and give it a shake to coat!)

3. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until everything is browned.  Stir the broccoli about half way through cooking if you like.

4. Zest the lemon over the broccoli.  Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli as well.  Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.


Eggplant Pizza
I've been wanting to make this for a long time.  With the ingredients required to make it, you really can't go wrong!  And this portion of our vegetarian dinner is gluten free as well!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, sliced into 1" thick slices
1 jar/can (213mL) tomato sauce or pizza sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella, grated (this amount varies depending on how cheesy you like our pizza)
15-20 fresh cherry tomatoes, halved (enough so that there's 2-3 halves per slice)
4-5 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 tsp sea salt
Asiago or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

Sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt.
This will help dry them out as they cook.

1. Preheat oven to 425F.  Arrange the sliced eggplant in rows on a baking sheet (or two if you need it).  Sprinkle with salt and bake for 20 minutes.

2. Remove the eggplant from the oven and turn the broiler on.  Spread 1 tbsp sauce over each eggplant, followed by the mozzarella.  Arrange the basil and cherry tomatoes over the cheese.  Grate some Asiago cheese over each slice.

3. Broil for 3-5 minutes.  Keep a close eye to make sure it does not burn.  Serve hot.

Instead of mozzarella, you can use Provolone cheese.  If you buy it already sliced, it makes for an even quicker prep and less clean up.

The cooked eggplant topped and ready to be broiled!

The final product - so delicious!

Spinach & Artichoke Spaghetti Squash

We take turns at work bringing in munchies on Fridays.  This week was my turn and I wanted something that was meatless (as it would be a Friday in Lent) and gluten free, as well as easy to make as my Thursday night was turning out to be quite busy.

I found the perfect recipe that had all things I love in it, and it tasted so good that everyone was interested in the recipe - there were no leftovers!

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, seeded (about 2 lbs)

3 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup (light) sour cream

1/2 pkg (250g) cream cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

3 cups packed baby spinach (about 3 large handfuls)

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3/4 - 1 cup marble cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Place the spaghetti squash in a microwave safe dish, cut side up.  Fill up the dish halfway with water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave about 10 minutes, until soft.  Remove and cool slightly.  (Alternately, you can roast the squash in a 350F oven cut side down for about 40 minutes.  Brush the cut sides with olive oil or butter before roasting).

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a pan.  Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5-8 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about another minute.  Add in sour cream, cream cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan.  Stir until the cream cheese has melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the spinach and artichoke hearts and cook until the spinach has wilted.

3. Scrape up the strings of the squash with a fork and add it to the pan.  Stir together to combine.

4. Pour into a rectangular dish.  Top with the grated cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese.  

5. Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I let it cool slightly and covered my dish, brought it to work the next day and people microwaved it as they needed.  It turned out so yummy!  And it was really quite filling.

The final product just before broiling the cheese.

Vegetarian Pizza Dinner

Today was the day that our groceries were running on empty and I found myself tweaking recipes left, right and centre!

I had a very busy cooking weekend - puff pancakes on Saturday morning, roasted chicken and potatoes Saturday dinner.  Then I used the leftover chicken bones to make chicken broth in the slow-cooker overnight.  Sunday morning I was in the process of making banana pancakes when I realized that I no longer had any eggs so I had to do some substitutions, and made a pretty good vegan pancake instead.  And for dinner tonight I was making the pizza dough when I realized that I didn't have any pizza sauce - so another substitution was made.  Overall, it still turned out to be a great weekend with great food!

Pizza Dough & Pizza Recipe

This dough comes together really quickly - great for those nights when you don't know what to make for dinner!

Dough Ingredients:
2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one package)
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano  **the next three seasonings are totally optional; they just add flavour to the dough**
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Mix oregano, basil and garlic powder with olive oil in a small bowl.  Stir flour, salt and oil mixture into the yeast-water.  Use your hands to knead the dough until smooth, about 5-10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. (At this point I would start getting your ingredients together for the pizza.  If it rests longer than 5 minutes, not a problem - you will just have more dough like I did and have more pizza!)

3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into your pan shape.  Typically this would fit a 12" round pizza pan.  Because my dough rested for at least 15 minutes, I was able to stretch my dough out to an extra-large rectangular pizza tray.  It didn't quite reach both ends, it was maybe shy about 1", but it didn't change anything.

4. To prepare the pan: Butter it generously - this will give you a golden crust.  I also lightly dust it with cornmeal as it gives it a nice crunch and texture, and also helps prevent the dough from sticking. (Which won't be a problem if you've buttered the heck out of your pan!)  Stretch out your dough to the shape of your pan.  Preheat your oven to 425F around this point in your cooking.

5. Always pour some olive oil over the dough and spread it around before putting on your toppings.  Because this dough has seasoning already in the dough, you don't have to add any to the pizza, but it doesn't hurt it if you do.  I would take a smashed clove of garlic and spread it over the dough just before you pour the olive oil and then sprinkle the dough with oregano, basil, etc.

6. Next you add your sauce.  If you're out of sauce, take a can of tomato paste, pour in a couple of tbsp of water and a few sprinkles of seasoning (ie: basil, oregano, garlic powder, etc.) and mix it.  This will then out the paste and make a quick sauce whenever you need it.  Spread the sauce however thick or thin you like it.  Then add your toppings.  Tonight it was red peppers, thinly sliced onions and thinly sliced garlic.  Then add your cheese - as much or as little as you like.  I always pour a little bit more olive oil over top and then pop it into your preheated oven.

7.  It will take about 20-25 minutes to cook.  You'll know it's ready when the crust is golden brown (underneath too!) and it doesn't stick, and the cheese is all melted and delicious.  Take it out of the oven, let it cool for about 5 minutes before you cut into it.  And there ya have it - a quick and easy, but very yummy pizza dinner!

How much was leftover after the three of us got our hands on it.

Another Barley Dish - Italian Barley Stew

I saw recently on Breakfast Television a whole segment on barley. They called it Canada's answer to a superfood.  I also learned that there were different types of barley, which I really didn't know much about.  They made a stew-type dish using pot barley.  I did some research and I found out that pearl barley (which is what I used in my other post)  is the most common form used in cooking, but it is also the least nutritious because it is stripped of the bran layer.  Because of this it also cooks the fastest. Pot barley isn't as heavily processed, so it is more nutritious and takes a little longer to cook.  From what I was able to gather, you can pretty much use them interchangeably, with some possible slight modifications to cooking time.

This dish is a lot like a stew as well, but I found it thicker and more hearty.  For lack of a better name, I decided to call it an Italian barley stew simply because of the herbs that are used in it.

Ingredients:

1 onion, thinly chopped
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, peeled, quartered and thinly chopped
1 acorn squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into approx. 1/2" cubes
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup pot barley, rinsed
1 cup chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Saute onion with oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat till they start to get a golden colour.  Add the garlic and carrots and saute for a couple of minutes until the carrots soften slightly.  Add the squash.  If the pot is dry, add a little bit of oil to the pan.  Saute for another couple of minutes.
2. Add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper and stir; saute for a minute.  Add the wine and scrape up all the bit at the bottom of the pot.  Add the barley and give it a stir.  Let it saute for another couple of minutes.
3. Stir in the broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and stir once again.  Lower the heat, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 45 minutes until the barley is cooked and tender.  Stir occasionally to prevent the stew from burning
4. Remove from heat and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  Place into serving bowls and sprinkle grated cheese over top