Yesterday was hard on me. I missed that hour when daylight savings began.
I lazed around all Sunday morning and suddenly realized I needed to make at least one big dish to reheat this week. Not sure what to make I began where I always begin these days … by making a vegetable broth. With the broth in the pressure cooker I thought about what I could make. One dish with vegetables, grains, and beans seemed like the way to go. I went through my pantry and saw pearled barley. Yes! This grain cooks in about 18 – 20 minutes in the pressure cooker, so I referred to my Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure cookbook to see what beans required the same cooking time: black, flageolet and navy. I had flageolet beans on hand!
Bean and Barley Vegetable Stew
Serves 6 -8
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Ingredients
- Avocado Oil (optional)
- 1/4 cup shallots, sliced and diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1/2 a jalapeño, diced
- 1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 cup green beans, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 t Herbes de Provence
- 1 t thyme, dry
- 1 t ground black pepper
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup flageolet beans, soaked for one hour and drained
- 3/4 cup pearled barley, dry (rinsed and drained)
- Juice of one lemon
- Cardamom, to taste
- Iodized sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil (or water or vegetable broth) in an uncovered pressure cooker. Saute shallots, celery and jalapeno for a few minutes.
- Add mushrooms, tomato, green beans, bay leaf, spices, broth, water, beans, and barley.
- Cover the pressure cooker and bring to pressure.
- Cook at pressure for 20 – 22 minutes.
- Release pressure naturally.
- Once pressure has released, remove the lid, away from you, and add lemon juice, cardamom and salt.
- Simmer for 5 – 10 minutes, uncovered.
I love adding lemon juice to my beans before adding salt. You all know I love my oil and salt but I really do try to enjoy them in moderation. Adding lemon or lime juice to my bean dishes adds a flavor dimension that curbs my desire for salt. Anyone else find that to be true?
I’m packing this stew for lunch today – I’ll serve it hot, over a bed of a raw baby spinach.
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Have you entered to win a copy of Quick-Fix Vegan?
JL Fields 
Responses
Yum! I love barley sooooo much! And I’m thrilled about Daylight Savings Time! I HATE the dark part of the year.
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Oh, yes, I love the benefits of Daylight Savings, I just miss that hour! LOL
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How much barley do you use and when do you put it in??
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Oh my goodness! Thank you for catching that! I’ve edited the post above but it’s 3/4 cups pearled barley (dry) and you add it to the pressure cooker with the beans. Sorry about that!
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Thanks so much! I haven’t used my pressure cooker yet, and this sounded amazing .. then I was like, “Oh, wait .. Where’s the barley?!” I love me some barley!
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[…] I blogged while distracted. I shared a Bean and Barley Vegetable Stew recipe…and forgot to mention the barley! Like how much barley to use, when to add it… […]
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[…] Dinner: Bean and Barley Vegetable Stew […]
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Can I use hulled barley?
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Hulled barley takes longer to cook than pearled, but I chose a longer cooker time for the pearled to make it creamy. Soooooo. I would say had a few more minutes to cook the hulled but I don’t know if the soup will have the same texture. Give it a try and let me know!
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Thanks! I will probably soak overnight, too.
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Hi JL! Hulled barley worked great for us (we like a lot of chew-factor). I soaked the hulled barley in hot water for a couple of hours before following the recipe as normal. The lemon juice at the end took it over the top!
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Yay, Sue! Thanks so much for letting me know! So glad you enjoyed it!
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