girl, do you ever get sick of eating out?
D and I were in the process of moving cross-country and we were stuck in an Airbnb. I was sick of eating out. I have always been a * home cooked meal type of gal* and living off of restaurant salads and other random foods for a month was irritating me. And literally making me fat, sluggish…and just eh.
I had been so used to juicing at home and having all my fun little kitchen gadgets but while we were stuck in the Airbnb, I didn’t have any of that stuff. Ever been there?
I also really had to get past using airbnb utensils…I know that may sound bougie but my mind was just not in the most comfortable place thinking about using dishes everyone else was using. I know I know, “Cierra, you were eating at restaurants where there was shared cutlery” …OKKK but I’m pretty sure those restaurants have a dish washer–our Airbnb, did not. But I had to get over myself.
vegetable-packed barley bowl
One day I went to whole paychecks (Whole Foods) and I decided to just grab a bunch of random things to try and put a meal together for D and I. I bought some brussel sprouts, asparagus, kale, quinoa, sweet potato…just anything in the produce section I could find. I’m ALL about variety & getting in as many nutrients as possible.
When I went back to the Airbnb, I was like sh*t, what can I do?. I ended up creating a masterpiece (if I do say so myself) and it is now something we eat pretty regularly because it provides so many nutritional benefits and it is BEYOND tasty. BLACK MAN APPROVED!!! D was giving me all kinds of ‘ooohs and ahhhs’ while eating hahaha.
make it protein-packed
Listen, I know you might roll your eyes at the thought of sardines, but I SWEAR by them. They are delicious in this dish and they just add a small pop of flavor. –You hardly even notice they are there. Plus they are full of protein! (I split one can between D & I) I don’t like to cut veggies & put them back in the fridge– so we use the whole onion, garlic, pepper and all.
Easy Substitutes for Barley
I make this dish in a variety of ways. Sometimes, the base of the dish is:
- Hulless Barley
- Pearled Barley
- Quinoa
- Wild rice
…BUTTTT for today let’s focus on the version featured in the youtube video. 😉
recipe for the best barley bowl
The Best Barley Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup soaked Hulless Barley + ¾ cup water in instant Pot hit Rice button
- 1 bundle Kale
- 1 Sweet Potato
- 1 Avocado
- 1 Purple onion
- 1 Red Bell pepper
- 15 brussel sprouts
- 15 asparagus
- ¼ cup radish microgreens
- ¼ cup broccoli microgreens
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 can Sardines
- 1 knob ginger
- 1 knob tumeric
- 1 lime
- 2 Thai Chiles
Instructions
- Soak 1 cup Hulless Barley overnight.
- Chop vegetables: Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus & Sweet Potato
- Drizzle olive oil or avocado oil on the brussels and asparagus. Put coconut oil on the sweet potato for roasting.
- Put vegetables in a baking tray and cover with foil. Slow roast vegetables for a few hours at 250F or bump it up to 350 F.
- Roast the Garlic (cut it in half –drizzle olive oil and cover with foil) If you don’t want to do this step –you can just sauté the garlic
- Chop onion, pepper, & thai chiles, grate the ginger, grate the turmeric
- Saute the onion, ginger, pepper, turmeric–I saute this in Butter, ghee, or avocado oil
- Turn the heat OFF. Now add chopped Kale and pine nuts and put the lid on. The heat will gently simmer the kale–lets keep as many nutrients in the kale as possible–and keep a nice crunch the kale.
- Rinse the Hulless Barley, then add it to the Instant Pot. The Barley is holding water from the soak, so just add about ¾ cup of water to the Instant Pot and hit the “Rice” button.
- Scoop Barley out of instant Pot, add roasted Brussels, Asparagus, Garlic, add Sautéed mixture, then had pine nuts, & sardines–drizzle the olive oil from the sardines over the meal. Add fresh microgreens, avocado and squeeze lime juice! . Add Celtic Salt & Pepper Flakes and ENJOY!!!
Notes
watch the video – the best barley bowl & what if’s
