Barley Muffins with Apple and Cashew Pieces

Muffins are one in all my favourite quick breads to make due to the fact they're easy to put together and there are endless opportunities to hold your taste buds interested. There is nothing like a nice basketful of truffles to provide nourishment at some point of the day. Not simplest do they make for a fast breakfast, they may be a superb portable snack to take to paintings for spoil time, and once I am hungry inside the evening but fussy approximately what I may want, muffins will commonly do the trick.

In this situation, I desired something a touch one of a kind and incorporated some barley and cashews, along with apples that make up the fruit factor, for an particularly nourishing and healthful alternative to keep-offered sugar-crammed desserts masquerading as truffles as I recognize them. Not there may be something wrong with indulging your sweet tooth once in a while, however in case you need to eat cake, properly eat cake and you may nevertheless have your muffin and devour it too.

Probably some of the maximum unique cakes I even have made in a long time, I changed into specifically overjoyed with the layers of texture from the grain, seeds, nuts and fruit ? Chewy, crunchy and gentle sensations within the mouth with every bite. Little sweetener is wanted here to make these a treat and also you might not be able to stop at one, specially in case you are lucky to experience one clean out of the oven.

More savory quick breads you're positive to experience from Lisa's Kitchen:

Apple Cheddar Scones

Classic Blueberry Muffins

Mini Gruyere Scones

Quick and Easy Cornbread Muffins

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Creamy Lentil, Barley and Mushroom Soup

On a quest to satisfy my frequent longing for mushrooms, I desired some thing earthy and balanced, multi function bowl. Another requirement turned into short and easy. This bowl glad all the above. Although extra salads were appearing at the menu recently, this spring has been a cold one and even if you take place to live in hotter climes, do supply this a try due to the fact soups aren't just for cold times, but comforting all 12 months round, especially so while you serve them with a few selfmade biscuits.

More mushroom goodness to satisfy that fungus yearning:

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Risotto

Thai Coconut Mushroom Soup with Kidney Beans

Wild Mushroom Tapas Served on Crusty Bread with Goat Cheese

Barley and Lentil Herbed Salad

Although I adore barley, I do not tend to cook with this historical grain very frequently, and that could be a disgrace due to the fact no longer best it's miles wealthy in fiber and protein and comparatively reasonably-priced at that, it also has a adorable chewy texture and nutty taste that makes it a popular preference for soups and salads. Here it's far converted into a vast and nourishing salad that could simply emerge as a summer favorite of mine, although it's miles delicious anytime of 12 months.

There is lots going on in this dish and it all comes collectively in a continuing manner. The addition of earthy lentils balances out the proteins, and then sparkling herbs are introduced along with sparkling tomato. Then this lovely combination of goodness is better through the relatively complementary nutty taste of tahini, sparkling tart lemon juice, a wee bit of spice and beauty, and a few saltiness from olives and tamari. I will note that this is a extremely good way to take advantage of fresh herbs from your lawn and if you are fortunate enough to be developing tomatoes, they will upload an additional clean layer of taste to the plate.

Take care while adding sea salt to the dish as the olives and tamari are fairly salty and also you do not need to overpower your dish with an excess of sodium. Serve with sparkling salad vegetables and some flatbreads to really get dressed up the enjoy.

More barley recipes you're positive to enjoy from Lisa's Kitchen:

Anooshavoor (Turkish Barley and Apricot Porridge)

Barley Porridge with Honeyed Almonds and Roasted Apples

Mesopotamian Barley, Chickpea, Lentil, Tahini Soup

Mango Barley Porridge with Blackberries

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Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili with Azuki Beans, Barley and Mushrooms

Vegetarian chili is a comforting, warming and nourishing one-pot meal for which I by no means tire of exploring new thoughts ? Nor do my husband and I rarely tire of eating, particularly throughout the bloodless months. Despite the relative simplicity of chili, at instances the infinite number of versions at the subject can be forgotten.

Chili is virtually a top notch practice dish because chili recipes usually yield an awesome quantity, hold well, and are a splendid manner to burn up any vegetables nearing the stop in their shelf existence. But chili is likewise an suitable for eating canvas to get dressed up with whatever suits your fancy.

Now adding pumpkin isn't an exceptional idea for vegetarian chilies, but this fall has delivered about an especial indulgence for roasting and ingesting lots of pumpkin, and I love the wealthy creaminess it lends to chili similarly to the greater nourishment. Red kidney beans are a staple of vegetarian and non-vegetarian chili recipes, but this time around I decided to apply sweet little crimson azuki beans that pass so nicely with pumpkin. Chewy nutty-tasting pearl barley blanketed in the blend adds a first-rate assessment in texture to the smoothness of the cooked beans and pumpkin and the crunchiness of peppers, carrots and celery.

I like my chili thick and creamy, and I adore it warm and spicy, however it is easy sufficient to feature greater water or inventory to skinny it out extremely ? Mainly preserve this in mind the following day if reheating because the chili thickens up because it rests within the fridge in a single day. The spices and seasonings can also be adjusted, brought or discarded in step with flavor, however if you don't already have liquid smoke accessible then I could endorse that some drops does lend a awesome intensity and flavor to this and nearly any other chili. Red kidney beans or maybe black beans can absolutely be used in place of the azuki beans for a chunk extra of a hearty chili experience. Really, this recipe is a report of a chili that I specially enjoyed making and consuming, however it's also supposed as an notion ? The opportunities for vegetarian chili are as countless as the creativeness of the cook dinner.

Other vegetarian chili recipes to try from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Vegetarian Three Bean Chili with a Cashew-Pistachio Sauce

Vegetarian Chili with Kidney Beans, Black Beans and Rye Berries

Kidney Bean Pumpkin Chili

Jamaican-Style Jerk Chili with Chickpeas and Quinoa

Hearty Mushroom and Barley Soup

Just like the animals within the area (or the squirrels inside the backyard, as the case is probably), we humans experience the want to "stock up" on vitamins as fall becomes winter. For me and plenty of other vegetarians, this regularly takes the shape of thick, hearty and nourishing soups. And for me, those forms of soups are a extremely good excuse to load within the succulent mushrooms.

This mushroom and barley soup loaded with vegetables and seasoned with dried herbs and spices is simply the aspect to warm and nourish the body as the bloodless climate units in. I call it a soup, however it is able to be organized almost as a thick stew or in a thinner broth as you please ? It virtually relies upon on how a great deal inventory or water you use. Either way, it's delicious, alluring and comforting.

Note: I like to reserve the mushroom soaking liquid to use as a part of the soup broth, much like I do once I soak sun-dried tomatoes. This virtually complements the earthy mushroom revel in of the soup.

Other warming ideas for barley from Lisa's Kitchen:

Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili with Azuki Beans, Barley and Mushrooms

Creamy Lentil, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Cranberry Bean, Barley and Fennel Soup

Spiced Red Lentil, Barley and Vegetable Soup

Twist on a Classic - Tomato and Lentil Rasam with Barley

This isn't always precisely your traditional rasam, as rasams are usually brothy, skinny and truly watery soups that are served together with a dal dish, generally as the second path of a south Indian meal. Tamarind and tomatoes do determine prominently in this relatively unusual rasam as they ordinarily do, and the spices are ones that I typically encompass in a rasam. It makes for a lovely "gravy" to spoon over rice too. But this is a thicker model that consists of pearl barley further to red lentils, serving no longer best to fill matters out ? Making it a greater filling and prominent characteristic of a meal ? However also adding a tantalizing layer of texture. You can regulate the water content to make it thicker or thinner, relying in your desire. It is going specially properly with vegetable side dishes and Indian flat breads if favored.

Of direction I had to flavor a few before I served it, due to the fact that is what discerning chefs do. The first element that struck me, apart from the easy texture, with a touch of nutty taste from the barley, a pleasing acidity from the tomatoes and the sweet and bitter undertone from the tamarind. I additionally detected a hint of dill, however I did not use dill. So what turned into it that truely delivered a unique pleasant to this rasam? It turned into authentic Greek oregano that I brought on the give up of the cooking time. What a delight for the palate. So many flavors but all of them melded together for a rapturous melody that one will not quickly overlook.

Other Indian-style dal dishes to strive:

Tomato Tamarind Soup (Rasam)

Spicy Lentil Rasam (Poritha Rasam)

Tarka Dal With Tomato and Spices

Simple Lemon Dal

This is my contribution to My Legume Love Affair, a monthly event started via cute Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook, administered via me and this month, kindly hosted through this month by using Vidhya?S Vegetarian Kitchen.

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Cranberry Bean, Barley and Fennel Soup

I came about throughout something the alternative day at my neighborhood grocery shop that I'd in no way seen before ? Clean beans of their pods! It's surely rather odd that I've simplest ever cooked with dried beans, because beans form such an vital a part of my diet, however I'd in no way been able to locate them earlier than at any grocer or marketplace despite the truth that Ontario grows masses of beans ? Although reputedly more often than not white pea beans.

In any case, I turned into very excited to shop for these sparkling colourful beans even though there has been no signal identifying what form of bean they were (and the cashier failed to know both). I regarded them up at home and discovered that they have been cranberry beans, additionally known as borlotti beans. Both the pods and the beans inner are an attractive mottled white and purple, despite the fact that they lose the red coloration when cooked. They have a mild and fine nutty flavor much like pinto beans, which makes them a terrific addition to soups ? That's simply what I did now that the cool fall soup season is coming upon us.

I've written up this simple, hearty and nourishing fall vegetable soup with barley and the extraordinary anise taste of fresh fennel as although you had been the usage of dried beans (that's what most people will most customarily have handy). But if you do happen to locate fresh beans, you will sincerely experience their more impregnable and fuller texture. Simply snap them out in their pods and boil them in a pan of water for 20 to 30 minutes or till soft ? They don't need to be soaked but they do want to be cooked, so don't be tempted to eat them raw. To get 2 cups of clean beans, don't forget buying approximately 1 3/4 pounds (800 grams).

Other nourishing fall bean and vegetable soups you may experience:

Romano Bean and Vegetable Soup

Beet, Barley and Black Bean Soup

Indian Chickpea and Pumpkin Soup

Indian-Spiced Squash, Pear and Adzuki Bean Soup with Lightly Braised Mixed Mushrooms

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Spiced Red Lentil, Barley and Vegetable Soup

There are instances whilst you do not plan beforehand for dinner and you need to make do with staples, until you need to run out to the grocery save, but that is not continually a feasible or desired choice. This is one such soup that I put together one afternoon using using odds and ends of produce and basics that I commonly usually have handy. The addition of barley and coconut milk upload a silky texture to this earthy soup packed complete of masses of root vegetables and robust tomatoes.

Feel loose to use anything vegetables accessible to encompass inside the soup, along with bell peppers, parsnips, inexperienced beans, corn and potato, to name only a few. The soup is pleasant with about 3 - four cups of vegetables.

Yes, the weather has grew to become cool again, but I do enjoy soup 12 months round.

More lentil soups to revel in from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Turkish-Style Lentil Soup

Creamy Brown Lentil, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Lentil Soup with Prunes and Apricots

Greek Lentil Soup (Fakes)

Tomato and Parsley Barley Salad with Marinated Feta

Wanting a mild and clean salad to go together with a Middle Eastern meal offering baked home made falafel served up in wraps, the concept for this clean-to-prepare clean salad is based totally on tabbouleh. As I had a few freshly ground za'atar reachable, I determined to energy up that concept to consist of spices, cherry tomatoes, combined bell peppers, gently roasted cashews, and za'atar marinated pieces of sheep's milk feta cheese.

The distinguishing feature of tabbouleh is the prominence of fresh parsley and the presence of bulgur wheat in varying proportions, further to different chopped vegetables including tomatoes. The fresh salad is dressed with a easy mixture of clean lemon juice, olive oil and basic seasonings, and additionally typically capabilities clean mint.

The salad I present right here is pretty exclusive from a traditional tabbouleh, as as opposed to bulgur or even couscous, which has a comparable texture, I wanted a chewier grain and so boiled up a small quantity of pearl barley instead. I not noted fresh mint and covered some chopped peppers, and for a more considerable touch, topped every element with some marinated feta cheese chunks. Marinating the feta cheese in za'atar ? A exceedingly fragrant, zesty and salty Middle Eastern spice mixture of toasted sesame seeds, dried thyme, dried marjoram and sumac ? Virtually adds an additional complementary punch to the fresh and bursting flavors that make the salad itself. In truth, the marinated portions of feta cheese are so accurate, you'll must stop yourself from consuming them earlier than serving the salad.

Other sparkling salads to enjoy from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Chickpea Olive Salad with Za'atar and Cherry Tomatoes

Chickpea, Olive and Feta Cheese Salad

Quinoa Spinach Salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Toasted Almonds

Cauliflower & Olive Salad

Watermelon & Feta Salad With Olives

On the top of the reading stack: Tahini and Turmeric: 101 Middle Eastern Classics--Made Irresistibly Vegan

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