Recipe: Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushroom and Greens

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Isaac seems to want to be held all the time when he's awake. This is new. We used to be able to put him in his swing or his rock n play sleeper while we cooked, showered, used the bathroom, cleaned etc. But it seems he wants to be held all the time. It makes for one sleepy mommy sometimes.

But mommy I wanna snuggle all day long. You don't need to use the bathroom. Just use one of my diapers. 

It also means getting housework and other things hard to get done almost impossible. It was suggested that I try a moby wrap. I did get one at my baby shower (which I never got the chance to blog about because Isaac was born 2 days later). I've used the moby one other time. Its a learning process thats for sure and with Isaac being so little i've been nervous to use it. But when it came time to cook dinner and Isaac continued to cry when I'd put him down I thought I'd give it a try. So here you have it. Isaac and I cooking dinner together. I just noticed that Rainy is in this picture. That's kinda funny.

Okay mommy.... I'll take a nap. Finally. 

Once again I'm trying to clear out the pantry. I had no idea I had barley in there. Wowza I probably would have used that stuff up months ago.  I went to one of my favorite websites, Epicurious, and found this recipe. It had lots of things I loved kale, mushroom, leeks and tasty spices. I showed the recipe to Dan and he agreed. It looked yummy.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 1/2 cups of chopped leeks (use the white part)
1 9 oz container of sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 teaspoons fresh rosemary
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 cup barley
4 cups vegetable broth (more if needed)
1 bunch of kale, chopped

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for about 5minutes.
2. Add mushrooms, garlic and rosemary cook an additional 7 minutes. Allow mushrooms to brown. Add tomatoes and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add vegetable broth and barley. Bring to boil then simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add kale. Stir until it wilts. Cook 10 minutes and serve.




The recipe was super easy to make and super filling. I thought it tasted pretty good but not sure if its one I will make again or not. I have to really really love a recipe to make it again. I thought the flavors mixed nicely. Dan seemed to like it too. I think if I did I would use more vegetable broth. When my mom made stew it was always really really thick. The vegetable broth was basically absorbed by the barley so there was no liquid or thickness at all.

Whats your favorite barley recipe?