Hot Barley With Toasted Almonds

Whole grains such as barley is high in fiber and is therefore digested slowly, causing a low, even release of blood sugar.

This weight loss breakfast dish will keep you well fueled and feeling satisfied until lunch or even longer. You can cook a large pot of barley once a week, keeping it covered in the refrigerator.

When you need to prepare breakfast, all you need to do is scoop the barley into a bowl, add the crème fraiche, and microwave the barley on high until hot. The recipe is provided below.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2   3/4 cups water
• 3/4 reaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup almonds, walnuts, or pecans, or in a mixture
• 1/2 cup crème fraiche
• Ground cinnamon

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the barley and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly coated with butter and lightly toasted. Reduce the heat to prevent scorching.
2. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes until the barley is tender but still slightly chewy. Add more boiling water, 1/4 cup at a time, if the barley becomes too dry. Do not add too much water. All the water should be absorbed until the barley is done. Drain the barley if necessary. You should end up with about 3 cups of barley.
3. Toast the almonds over medium heat for 3 minutes in a small, dry skillet. Keep stirring until the almonds begin to turn light brown. Pu them into a small bowl to cool.
4. Chop the almonds.
5. Place the barley in a bowl. Stir in the almonds and crème fraiche unitl well mixed. Divide into 4 servings in separate bowls. Dust each portion with a pinch of cinnamon, and serve warm.

For more fiber, you can use hulled barley in place of pearl barley. Hulled barley has only the very outer coating removed, so is higher in fiber than pearl barley. However, hulled barley will take an extra 15 to 20 minutes of simmering. Alternatively, you can substitute with quinoa, which is a low GI food ideal for people who are sensitive to gluten.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 26th, 2010 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Free Weight Loss Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.