Using up random ingredients - Pearl Barley

 
Lurking at the back of my cupboards I have a variety 'interesting' ingredients that I bought with the intention of 'trying something new' or because there was an exciting recipe on TV which I bought the ingredients for but never got round to making.  One of the things clogging up my cupboard was a bag of pearl barley. So when over the summer I was acting as the 'support crew' for some friends who were cycling from Inverness to Glasgow so I decided to forego my normal carbohydrates of pasta, potatoes or rice & experiment on my friends.

We were staying at the youth hostel in Aviemore, so whatever I cooked had to be straightforward enough to be made in the hostel kitchen with about 40 Duke of Edinburgh students cooking frozen pizza around us.  After about an hour wandering around the supermarket in Aviemore looking for some inspiration I finally decided to make a roasted vegetable barley risotto type thing, which everybody thought was good, especially with some Brewdog beer to wash it down.

Ingredients:

Enough for 4

85g Pearl Barley
Stock
1 Butternut Squash
2 Peppers
2 Onions
150g Cherry tomatoes
Oil
Handful Edamame beans (or other beans to add crunch e.g. broad beans or mange tout)
100g Feta (or halloumi)
Small Handful of Mint
Small Handful of Coriander
1 Chilli
Squeeze of Lime
Salt & Pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 ͦ C


Cook the barley in the stock until al dente, this will take about an hour

Whilst the barley is cooking chop the squash, peppers, and onions into small pieces.  Halve the cherry tomatoes and put in a large roasting tin with the chopped vegetables.  Coat with a little oil and roast at 200  ͦ C until soft (about 45 minutes).

While the veg is roasting finely chop the mint, coriander and chilli.

When the barley and veg are cooked mix them together.*

Stir in the edamame beans, finely chopped mint, coriander and chilli.  Season with salt and pepper, crumble over the feta and a squeeze of lime

*  If you're planning to eat this over a number of meals portion it out at this point and add the rest of the ingredients just before you're ready to eat.