Barley Lentil Rice with Cranberry and Pine Nut

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Pot Barley

1 cup Green Lentils

1/3 cup Long Grain Basmati Rice

1 cup Cranberries, dried

4-5 Pecans, crushed

1/4 cup Pine Nuts

1/3 teaspoon Curry Powder

1/3 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder

1/3 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Combine barley, lentils, basmati rice in a pot.  Rinse a few times until the water is no longer milky. Drain and then add double amount of the water.

2. Add cranberries, pecans, pine nuts, curry powder, garam masala and salt in the pot.  Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat.  When the water starts to bubble, reduce the heat to the lowest and put the lid on.  Let it cook for 20 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave it for another 10 minutes without opening  the lid.

3. When the time is up, open the lid and add olive oil.  Gently fluff the barley lentil rice with a spatular.  Serve immediately.

Stir Fried Barley with Salmon and Tofu

Barley is a staple in our household.  We love both pot barley or pearl barley.  We like to add it to salad greens, add it into soup, or make flavoured rice.  This salmon and tofu stir fry is the recipe my 6 year old son loves best that he said he wants to pack for lunch everyday.  It's composed of pressed tofu, salmon and Brussel sprouts.  Feel free to substitute other ingredients that you enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Pot Barley

3.5 cups Water

1 Salmon, deboned (I keep the skin)

3 squares Pressed Tofu

10 pcs Brussel Sprouts

4 Stalks Green Onion

SEASONING:

4 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce

1-2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Rice Wine

1 tablespoon Sugar (option)

3 tablespoons Ketchup

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. To cook the barley, rinse it with two changes of water; drain.  Combine the barley with the 3.5 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil over high heat and boil until the water is half absorbed.  Cover the pot with the lid and turn the heat to low.  Continuously boil for another 20 minutes and the water is totally absorbed, remove the pot from the heat.  Let it stand for 10 minutes before fluffing it.

2. In a non-stick frying pan, add some oil.  Lay the salmon in it with its skin side down.  Fry it over medium-high heat until the salmon is fully cooked.  Break apart the salmon with a spatula.

3. Add cooked barley, tofu, and brussel sprout. Stir fry until it heats up and then add the seasoning.  Stir fried for another 10 minutes and remove it from the heat.  Serve immediately.

Lemony Barley with Sautéed Swiss Chard and Roasted Golden Beet ｜ 檸檬大麥配瑞士甜菜和金菜頭

This time of the year is the best time to hang around farmer's markets because there are always so many colourful root vegetables sitting on the shelves accompanying the seasonal greens.

At St. Lawrence farmer's market

Today I went to look for golden beets.  Golden beets taste much less earthy than the common red beets, but they have the similar sweetness and jewelry looking beauty.  I just love them.  At the market, I also found some prime seasonal Swiss chard.  A whole bundle of Swiss chard sold only $1.99 and it looked amazingly fresh.  So it was how I pulled my healthy vegan dinner together tonight.

Lemony Barley with Sautéed Swiss Chard and Roasted Golden Beet

檸檬大麥配瑞士甜菜和金菜頭

(Ingredients for roasted beet):

3 Golden Beets (red beets are fine too)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

(Ingredients for sautéed Swiss Chard):

1 bundle Swiss Chard

5-7 Garlic Cloves

5 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

2 tablespoons Chinese Rice Wine (optional)

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Ingredients for barley:

2 cups Barley

1.5 teaspoons Salt (for boiling barley)

1/3 cup Pine Nut

1/3 cup pumpkin Seeds

1/3 cup Cranberry, dried

4 tablespoons Olive Oil

1/3 Lemon of juice

 How to make it:

Roasting beets takes the longest time, so we can prepare them first.

I enjoy eating the beet greens so I bought the ones with a top.  I would sauté it with the Swiss chard later.  If you just want to use the beet roots, it is totally fine.

1. Remove the green tops from the beets and rinse off the dirt.

2. Place a beet on a piece of foil, and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on it.  Repeat the process until you finish the beets.

3. Wrap the beets individually with the foil, and place them on a roasting pan.

4. Roast the beets in the oven at 400F for about 30 minutes.  (Cooking time may vary according to the size of the beets).

5. Remove the beets from the foil and allow to cool slightly.  Remove the skins and cut the beets until chunk size.  Set the beets aside for later use.

6. Rinse the beet greens thoroughly.  Tear the leaves into bite sizes.  Snap the stems into about 3 cm sticks and also peel off the hard fibre along the stems.  

7. Separate the stems and leaves for even cooking later.

8. If you use Swiss chard, repeat the process as you would do for the beet greens.

9. Heat up about 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat.  Add garlic; fry until it is fragrant and slightly brown.

10. Add the beet greens and Swiss chard stems.  Sauté until the stems slightly give in; about 2 minutes.

11. Add the leaves, and sauté for another 2 minutes.

12. Add rice wine and sugar.

(Wine is optional and you can skip it if you don't have it on hand.  The sugar is to mellow the bitterness of the dark greens; the amount of the sugar should not be tasted in the dish.)

13. Continuously sauté for another 30 seconds.  Remove it from the heat and set it aside until later use.

14. To cook barley, first rinse it in a few changes of water until the water is slightly clean; drain it.

15. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add salt and barley.

16. Cook the barley over medium-high heat until it is softened; drain it well.

17. Squeeze lemon juice and add olive oil.  Season it with salt if needed.

18. Add pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, and cranberries; mix well.

19. Place the food on a serving plate.  Then, the dinner is ready.

I hope you will like this recipe.  See you next time.

Pearl Barley Lemon Drink ｜ 檸檬薏米水

Peral barley lemon drink is a common beverage in Hong Kong.  During the fiercely hot summer time, many moms will make this lemony drink for their family to cool off their bodies.

In this drink, we combine two different types of barley, the raw barley and the toasted barley.   Since we believe every food contains different elements like "yin and yang" or "cold and hot", we consider raw barley to be "cold" and roasted barley to be "hot".  By combining the two barley together, we can balance the extreme elements that benefits our bodies.

The raw barely is on the left, and the roasted barley is on the right.

Pearl Barley Lemon Drink

檸檬薏米水

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Raw Barely

1/2 cup Roasted Barely

4 tablespoons Sugar

1/4 wedge of Lemon

How to make it:

1. Bring it to a boil.  Add raw barely and roasted barely.  Reduce the heat to medium and continuously boil it for 25 minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Squeeze in the lemon juice and season it with sugar.