What’s So Great About Barley?

Self Magazine recently wrote about the ten foods we should resolve to eat this year. Kind of a nice concept, right? You get to actually add things instead of always thinking of food resolutions in terms of sacrifice and deprivation (although, lets be honest, there’s a reason peanut butter balls didn’t make the cut. Oh peanut butter balls, we will be reunited in roughly three hundred and fourty-five days…wait, what were we talking about?) Oh, yes, the list.

I was pretty proud of us when I realized we have extolled the virtues of six out of the ten foods mentioned in the Self article. Six and a half really since Swiss chard was encompassed in our ode to Greens. But while we’ve talk about all sort of grains in the site and certainly used barley in several recipes, we haven’t gotten down to the nitty gritty of this super good for you grain. Well, no more. Let 2014 be known as the Year of Barley (too much hype? Ok, lets just agree we’re going to eat some barley this year.)

Barley, according to Self Magazine and sports nutritionist, Ruth Carey,  “is a good source of soluble fiber and shown to help with controlling blood sugar. It also has a low glycemic index, and contains lots of carbohydrates, making it a great substitute for hot cereal in the morning or a pilaf with dinner. This grain is also easy to mix into most broth-based soups for an extra dose of heft and health.” So it’s both healthy and stealthy, packed with nutrition and energy but fairly mild in flavor and easily “introduced” (read snuck!) into a finicky eater’s favourite soup, chili, porridge or even cheesy goodness that is lasagna. I know, the jury is out on being sneaky with nutritious foods and we should absolutely have that discussion…but let’s have it over a bowl of barley, instead of down at the scurvy clinic, mmmmkay.