Barley, and a kitchen scale giveaway (Recipe: Curried mushroom, bean and barley soup)

You did.

You know you did.

You know you made the same New Year's resolutions I made: to try to learn Portuguese, and adopt a homeless cat, and give cauliflower and opera another chance, and read The New Yorker when it arrives every week instead of letting it pile up for months on the coffee table alongside cooking magazines you've been saving for a year or more but don't remember why, and eat more barley.

Why barley?

How about dietary fiber? And selenium, and magnesium, and niacin?

If those don't turn you on, how about weight loss, regularity, heart health and lower cholesterol?

Like wheat, barley -- one of the world's healthiest foods -- is a cereal grain. Hulled barley is the most nutritious, since only the tough outer hulls are polished off, leaving the bran intact. Pearl barley is polished to remove the outer bran layer, making it a bit less nutritious, but much quicker to cook.

Long a favorite of soup makers, barley moved on to a starring role in risotto several years ago. Its nutty flavor and chewy texture also work well in pie, pancakes, beef stew, salad, lemon-barley bread or a sweet apple casserole.

Every grocery store carries pearl barley, in the aisle with beans and rice. For hulled barley, you might need to visit a Whole Foods-type or health food market. Don't be afraid to buy from the bulk bin; barley will keep for more than two years in the pantry, if stored in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.

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The nice folks at EatSmart Products want you to keep your New Year's resolutions -- the real ones we all make, to eat healthier, lose weight, cook more -- so they're offering a free digital kitchen scale giveaway to two readers of The Perfect Pantry.

For dieters, bakers, bloggers and recipe developers, kitchen scales are an invaluable tool. But not all scales are created equal, according to William Geronimo, who with his dad (a pharmacist) founded New Jersey-based EatSmart Products in 2005 to produce an innovative nutrition scale as well as the kitchen scales.

Eat Smart's scales have some cool features: a three-minute auto-turnoff; rubber feet to prevent slipping; a zero feature, so you can combine ingredients as you go; and a large LCD (pounds, ounces, kilograms, grams) so you'll always be able to read it, no matter what's on the scale.

This would be a great addition to any kitchen, or a perfect gift for a friend who loves to cook or bake. The scales retail for $25-45, and of course you can use them to weigh other things (packages going to the post office, for instance, or even that cat you're going to adopt).

All you need to do to be eligible to win a free EatSmart digital kitchen scale is leave a comment on any post on this site between now and 11:00 p.m. Eastern US Time on Friday, January 9.

Next Saturday, one of my "random generators" will pull two comments out of a hat, or out of something hat-like. One Precision Touch and one Precision Pro kitchen scale (your choice of color, silver or white) will be shipped to two lucky readers directly from EatSmart, absolutely free. (Note: Shipping available to US and Canada addresses only.)

So, go ahead, leave a comment -- and share your New Year's resolutions, whether they involve healthy eating, or opera, or cats.

CURRIED MUSHROOM, GREEN BEAN AND BARLEY SOUP
Serves 2; can be doubled.

1/2 cup pearl barley
2 cups vegetable broth
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp madras (medium-mild yellow) curry paste, or 1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
1 cup sliced mushrooms
12 green beans, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces
Water, as needed

Place barley, broth and onion in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer, partially cover the pan, and cook for 20 minutes. Add curry paste, tomato paste, cumin, salt and pepper; stir, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green beans, and taste for seasoning, adjusting with salt and pepper as needed. If the soup is too thick, add a bit of water to thin. Serve hot, or let cool to room temperature and freeze.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Mushroom-barley soup
Fregula sarda with leeks and sausage
Vegetarian couscous with dried fruit
Bulgur with cheese and eggplant

Comments

[MIchelle]

I had no idea barley had that many health benefits--I usually just throw it in soup for texture, but now I'll be more intentional about its consumption.

[valerie m]

yum - that soup sounds delicious

[Helen from Ohio]

Happy New Year Lydia! This soup looks delicious. My New Year's resolution is to cook and eat healthier in 2009.

[Teran G]

That soup looks delicious. If I adopt one more cat I'll have one less husband. Seven (unhomeless now) cats and one dog currently reside with us.

[Desi]

I recently learned about barley risotto. Thanks for the additional suggestions!

[Michael]

I agree that barley is delicious. I've used it to make barley water (from Alton Brown's show), then eat the barley for breakfast after mixing it with yogurt, cinnamon & honey. I'll tuck this recipe away for my next time I get barley. Thank you!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

I love barley. It's most unfortunate failing is to not come to mind often enough.
And this is beautiful barley soup.

[Anne Lossing]

Gee, I wish I could buy barley here in the jungle!!

[Carol]

We're wanting, and needing, to eat healthier, so I guess we need to try barley. Hopefully the husband and teenager will like it. I wonder what a good "introductory" recipe might be.

As for adopting homeless cats, well, I've done my share over the years. Ten years ago, I swear it was like there was a sign on my house that read "Sucker lives here, free room & board", and only cats could see it. You would have thought I was running a shelter or kitty hotel.

[mymotherslegacy]

I love barley and green beans. My new years resolution is to learn to follow a recipe all the way through, this is a great one to start.

[Maria]

I've used barley for years, but now you've given me a reason to use it more often.

[Joan Nova]

Soup looks luscious, especially with those mushrooms floating on the top. Good luck with those resolutions.

[Paula in NH]

I've started to use barley more in my cooking because I like the taste. My favorite barley recipe is Butternut Squash Risotto made with barley instead of risotto. I'd love to be entered into the drawing.

[April]

To cook more at home! And to cut back on eating out.

[Ted Chaloner]

Do all modern scales read in pounds and ounces as well as metric?
Rupert

[Paz]

the soup is something i'd like to try. scales look good.

paz

[Foodista]

My New Year's resolution? To eat healthy, and lose all the pounds I gained from eating this holiday season :) Barley is indeed one healthy grain. Why don't you share your recipe at Foodista? We have launched an online food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia and we'd like you to see what the foodie community have contributed. Hope to see you join!

[Ricki]

I love, LOVE barley and don't use it enough! This looks terrific. And I would also LOVE that scale--so happy to see a contest that ships to Canada as well as the US! Thanks for putting this on, and Happy New Year!

[Rhonda]

OMG that soup looks so good! As cold as it is here in Maine I need some warm yummy food today! My resolution is to catch up on my reading this winter. I have several new books that I haven't made time tom read yet.
Thanks for the chance to win!

[April in CT]

That soup looks great! Thanks for the tutorial on barely. I had no idea the difference in hulled and pearl. I would love to have a kitchen scale because I'm seeing more recipes these days with the grams listed for measuring them out and am interested in trying that out.

[cindy]

my resolution is to eat healthier in general this year. an added benefit would be to lose some weight by doing so, but it is not my main goal.

[Rebecca]

Hulled barley makes great pilaf. I saute onions, sundried tomatoes, dill, and a little garlic, then toast the barley. Add water to cover and some dried apricots and cook like rice pilaf. Yum!

[Sue]

Always looking for something high in fiber and low on the glycemic index.

[Kate]

Yay for barley and kitchen scales! I think my news year resolution will have to be to use my newly won kitchen scale on a daily basis.

[martina]

I super love Barley.. Thanks for the post~
~M~

[Deena]

Hi Lydia--I read this post while still sleepy, and read it as "eat a homeless cat." Terrible! Thank goodness that's not what was written. :)

[Sheryl]

Although I like to have lots of variety in my menu planning, barley is one grain I seldom use. Seeing that it is so healthy I resolve to use it more often. However, I would welcome recipes to use it in.

[AppleTree]

I may have to reconsider barley...My husband loves it...I am not much of a fan.

[Nick]

I love barley. It's great to see it become more popular.

[Vicki]

I never thought of adding curry powder to barley, I'll have to try it!

[Bonnie]

I didn't realize the health benefits of Barley! The recipe sounds great. The kitchen scales look fabulous!

[Evan]

Thank you for your blog posts. I hope I win the scale.

[Amanda N]

I had barley for the first time recently and loved it. Thanks for the new recipe I can now try.

[Inna]

That looks delicious!

[Karla]

My resolution this year is to eat healthier. To try to count the nutritional value of the foods I'm putting in my body and decide if it's worth the calories.

[Carolyn G]

There is nothing better on a cold winter day then some homemade beef barley soup!! Thanks for the giveaway!

[Genie]

Ah yes...the loss of the weight. Needs to happen in 2009...and this soup seems like a good starting point!

I haven't tried making barley risotto yet...but definitely want to give it a try. Here's to more barley in 2009!

[Eggy zhe]

You know, we've had a bag of pearled barley in the drawers for a few years now. I always want to do something with barley, but I either forget or can't think of anything. Maybe I should just nail it to the front of the cupboard, so when I go to reach for a dinner plate I'll go 'oh yeah, NUTRITION.'

I actually didn't make any resolutions...well. I'm sure they're suppose to be made on new year's eve or day...i suppose my one would be to stop breaking dishes in a set.

[Leslie]

Tasty soup!

[Kathie Ballantyne]

I don't usually use barley, but since your enthusiasm is contagious, I'm going to try it!
P.S. allergic to cats!!!

[gaga]

I've always loved barley so eating more is not a problem at all! That soup looks tasty!

[Audrey]

Thankfully, I looove barley, my mom used to mix it up with white rice sometimes when cooking rice, and I would call it "One eye rice" as a kid because of the slits down the middle. haha

[Kim]

I'd love to win a scale. that would come in handy! The soup looks tasty!

[Natalie]

I absolutely love barley. I throw it into pilafs, soups, stews and even desserts (try barley pudding instead of rice pudding). Thanks for sharing the recipe - it looks delish!

[Christine]

Happy New year, Lydia. I love your resolutions. Is there a cat in your kitchen yet?
Up here on the foggy north coast of California, we are lucky to have an organic grain farmer who supplies us with several types of hulless barley. I've made many healthy and delicious recipes with it and now will add your lovely soup to my growing barley recipe list.

[pam]

Barley is my favorite grain! I always keep a couple jars of it in my pantry!

[Dawn]

This soup looks wonderful. I love barley; I'm definitely going to have to try this one. Thanks!

[L. Graham]

That recipe looks really yummy! Thank you!

[Judith]

your soup sounds lovely would like to try with dried mushrooms

[Amy]

My mother used to feed me barley soup every time I got sick, but as an adult I haven't prepared it. I'll have to try some barley recipes when I'm feeling healthy. Thanks!