Hello blog world!

I woke up today feeling even more congested than the day before. I hate having colds and I am a total baby about it. But in the spirit of positivity I am choosing to view this as a good thing. It has to get worse before it gets better, right? I managed to be a little bit more productive today than I’ve been for the past few days which is a good thing because one of my classes starts tomorrow. I really hope this cold goes down. I don’t want to be that girl in the first row with the tissues.

Another reason I had a pep in my step today? It was the first day of my new training plan (which can be viewed here –> also linked on my races page). Day 1 called for yoga. Rather than snotting all over Yoga Co I decided to do at home yoga on Exercise TV.

I am terrible at stretching so it felt good to stretch for a change. I definitely need to do more yoga cross training. That was my hips going “snap” “crackle” and “pop”. I did “zen in your den” and it was great.

Last night I had something pretty great too: risotto style barley with citrus and spinach from Super Natural Foods. I’ve never had barley before and I was excited to give it a try.

I started by sauteing two cloves of garlic, one shallot and 1/4 of a medium yellow onion in EVO and seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook for about 4 mins, until soft.

Then I added 1 cup pearled barley to the onions and garlic and stirred until coated.

Then I added a 1/2 cup of white wine and cooked until the wine was absorbed.

Then I added a 1 cup of water at a time, mixing each cup until it was absorbed. The water should simmer. The barley will start to puff up.

Make sure you continuously stir. This might take a while but it is so worth it. By the end the water doesn’t need to be completely absorbed at the end, just mostly absorbed.

While you are stirring zest a lemon, zest an orange, and peel and cut an orange. I used my favorite kitchen tool: a peeler that makes “twists” for cocktails!

When the barley has absorbed three cups of water total I turned the heat down and added 1/4 cup of creme fraiche (my good old friend!), the oranges and zest, and a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.

I mixed this  on low heat until the barley had absorbed some of the creme fraiche.

Then I added and handful of spinach and stirred until mixed and wilted.

I got some awesome spinach from the farmers market last week and I’m loving adding it to everything.

Top with a bit more parm and serve!

I loved having a dinner with a little citrus! It brightened up my dinner and tasted light and summery- just what I needed on a rainy night. The barley was very filling and yummy when cooked with wine and parm. The recipe makes two servings so I enjoyed it again tonight with a side of roasted veggies. This is going to be in my regular dinner rotation form now on and I need to find more uses for barley.

Have you cooked with barley before?

And for dessert?

Hot chocolate + cayenne because a little heat never hurt anyone.

Hope you had a great Monday!