broccoli and barley ...my perfect dinner ideas ....

Last year I had so many broccoli in my garden that I devised many new combinations with this vegetable. Many people around me do not like the taste of this green wonder but I love broccoli and whenever I get them fresh in the market , just load my bags with it. Last week I bought 2 kilos , usually a kilo a week is enough for me considering it's only me who eats this vegetable most of the time , unless it is paired with pasta. This year my crop of cauliflowers and broccoli is pathetic , the size is exactly like marigold flowers and they are bolting like anything . These recipes are made with the market broccoli , my last year broccoli pictures can be seen here and this year pictures are yet to come on this blog :) let them bolt and revolt....

With pasta they are most welcome for the husband . He loves anything except daal-chaawal , roti-subzi , stereotype North Indian meals . So the pasta he wants is always loaded with some vegetables and he likes it this way . Broccoli remain crunchy , soaked with the flavors of garlic simmered in extra virgin olive oil , accentuated with fresh herbs , oregano and basil ( dried herbs work very well too ).

The pasta is made mostly like this one in the picture . I am talking about the barley recipe today which off course is a descendant of this pasta recipe and is liked just because of this reason . Similarity to pasta , that is. So if you are going to introduce broccoli in your family this way , it will be better to make it with pasta first and then move on to barley ( which tastes much like al dante pasta , giving you the same bite) . Starting with barley will be perfect if you are a health food freak like me. My friend tasted barley cooked this way for the first time and asked for the recipe , it's wonderfully yummy .... health food is not always 'tasting healthy' take my word for it.

The recipe...

Boil some barley in pressure cooker or any way you like , in salted water till they are plump and soft , having a bite like pasta.

Boil some fresh peas, I did it in microwave for convenience.

Chop an onion ( I used white onion here) , the stalk and florets of barley separately and lots of garlic ( as much as you like , I like loads of it)......

Heat extra virgin olive oil and some butter ( as much or as less as you want ) in a pan and throw in the chopped garlic , let it simmer and get aromatic , add red chilly flakes .

Throw in the chopped onions and chopped broccoli stems first , stir fry till they turn soft , adding salt to taste . Now add the broccoli florets, boiled peas and the boiled barley , grate some nutmeg ( a pinch for one serving roughly) ..

I added a tbsp of cream for three servings to finish while the dish is still on the stove . Adding the water in which barley has been boiled makes it creamy too. The broccoli has to be crisp but stirred and mixed enough so that it soaks the flavors well . The florets soak like sponge... and the outcome is just yummy...

The quantity of the cooked vegetables is just double the quantity of boiled barley , making it the right high fiber meal fit for a macrobiotic plan. Oil and butter can be controlled , I made this one with a bit generous quantities according to my standards , about 2 tbsp for 3 servings.

 You could add any thing you like in this dish which is appropriate for these flavors . Like small cubes of paneer will be very good , I love mushrooms too . I made barley with mushrooms the other day, the recipe is coming soon.