Whichever you use, cook the barley ahead of time so that the dish doesn’t take too long to make. Purple prairie barley takes about one and a half hours to cook if unsoaked, about one hour if soaked. A cup yields just under 4 cups cooked barley.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small head cauliflower, separated into small florets, then broken into smaller pieces or sliced 1/2 inch thick (about 4 heaped cups)
1/2 cup fruity red wine, such as a Côtes du Rhone
4 cups cooked purple prairie barley (1 cup uncooked) or hulled barley
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup thawed frozen or fresh peas
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 ounces Parmesan, grated (1/2 cup)
1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet or saucepan, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cauliflower. Cook, stirring, for a minute until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the barley and red wine. Cook, stirring, until the wine has evaporated, leaving the cauliflower tinted.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of the stock, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the peas, and continue to simmer until the cauliflower and peas are tender and most of the stock has evaporated, about 15 minutes. There should still be some creamy liquid surrounding the grains of barley. If the mixture dries out before the cauliflower is tender, or if the grains are not suspended in some liquid at the end of cooking, add some of the additional 1/2 cup of stock. Add pepper, and adjust salt.
3. Stir in the parsley and Parmesan, remove from the heat and serve.
Yield: Serves four to six.
Advance preparation: Unlike regular risotto, the grains will not continue to soften after you remove this from the heat. If you need to have the dish made ahead of serving, you can cook it through Step 2 and reheat. I would cook the peas separately, however, and add them when you reheat, because their color will fade due to the acid in the red wine. You may want to add some more broth when you reheat.
Nutritional information per serving (four servings): 384 calories; 3 grams saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 milligrams cholesterol; 48 grams carbohydrates; 12 grams dietary fiber; 306 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 16 grams protein
Nutritional information per serving (six servings): 256 calories; 2 grams saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 milligrams cholesterol; 32 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 204 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 11 grams protein
Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”
