Pearl barley, a blast from the past

A quick and simple guide to cooking and eating pearl barley.

Refined into barley malt for use in beer, fed to livestock or hidden in thick soups and stews; poor pearl has been on the bench for many years now.  Let’s give her some new dresses and ask her to dance!!  She is just as good as quinoa.

I actually do not like the texture of pearled barley in soups, I find it’s kind of slimy and chewy.  When I read that whole grains are a must for the postmenopausal woman I went on a whole grain mission. Pearled barley was on my list, but I left it to last, sad face, because of my stew bias.  It is a great source of fibre and packed with vitamins and minerals. Reading on Health benefits.  I sighed and looked up some recipes I have in old books, they were seriously uninspiring.  I was a little lost until I stopped thinking about pearled barley as pearled barley!!!!!  I thought of it as rice or quinoa. Everything changed.

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