Just got back from a great work­out this morn­ing. It’s amaz­ing how fresh the legs can feel when you com­mit to the foam roller every day! If you haven’t invested in one of these (they’re cheap — Win­ners!), then you must! It’s espe­cially great for all you run­ners out there suf­fer­ing from tight IT bands. Yuck.

Any­ways, I thought I’d share a recipe for a deli­cious and easy side dish which my hubby and I enjoyed last night with grilled salmon (my fave)! I usu­ally try not to eat starches in the evening but this bar­ley risotto is too good to pass up and hey, it was Fri­day night after all. Bar­ley actu­ally, is a great choice of com­plex car­bo­hy­drates, so you really don’t need to feel too guilty eat­ing it. Just watch your por­tion size, 1÷2−3÷4 cup cooked, should do it.

Bar­ley Risotto

So here’s what you’ll need :

1 onion, diced

2 gar­lic cloves, minced

1 T olive oil

¹⁄₂ cup pot barley

2 cups (or more) low sodium chicken broth, canned or homemade

2 T fresh thyme, minced

2 T fresh pars­ley, chopped

Here’s how to make it.….

1. Over low heat, in a medium saucepan, sweat 1 diced onion in 1 T olive oil. Add gar­lic and cook until fra­grant.
2. In another pot, over medium-​low heat, add chicken broth and keep warm.
3. Add bar­ley and thyme (I didn’t have any last night) and stir until toasted, about 2 minutes.
4. Add ¹⁄₂ cup chicken broth to bar­ley, stir­ring well. You don’t need to stand and stir all night long but be sure to stir occa­sion­ally to ensure it doesn’t burn.
5. Once the liq­uid has evap­o­rated, con­tinue adding more broth, ¹⁄₂ cup at a time, until the bar­ley is ten­der and creamy. Sea­son with sea salt and freshly ground pep­per to taste; add pars­ley and mix well. Serve with your favourite choice of protein.

Here’s our meal — my hubby’s piece of salmon was huge!

A rea­son­able por­tion should be about 6 oz. We also enjoyed a big bowl of greens (I added some pink lady apples), as always.

No meal is com­plete with­out my salad!

Hope you enjoy the risotto. Let me know what you think!

Enjoy your Saturday!