Barley Risotto with Roasted Vegetables

I’ve had a bag of barley sitting in the pantry for ages–discount grocery!–and this week I was just itching to do something with it.  Granted, I’ve never actually had barley.  It sounds so hearty and nourishing, though:  a bowl of warm chewy something to give comfort on these cold Mississippi nights.  The finished dish exceeded expectations, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to call it “the oatmeal of dinner.”  (Good oatmeal, of course–steel-cut oats, stovetop, the works.)

I didn’t follow a recipe, per se, but I took this as a guideline.  I wanted to make this recipe, but I didn’t soak any beans last night and I’m trying to wean myself off the canned stuff.  Basic risotto procedure…boring.  I used 2:1 ratio of water to broth because I find full-broth risottos a little overpowering, and I simmered some dried herbs in the liquid.  The process did take much longer than expected, close to an hour; I’ll blame the weird discount barley, because I can.  I grated some pecorino in at the end, and the flavors and textures played very nicely together.

I needed to use up some particular produce, so I roasted broccoli and carrots and folded them into the finished barley.  I have to admit, the broccoli wasn’t as tasty as I’d hoped.  I think I’m just not a fan of roasted broccoli.  I should have steamed it on the side and roasted the sweet potato I found languishing in my roots-and-tubers bowl.  I have another bag of barley in the stash, so I’ll just say, “next time…”

Frit-tato, Frit-tata

I’m back, Internet World!  Did you miss me?  Don’t answer that.

Halfway into an extremely slow day at work, most of which has been spent reading cooking blogs, I have decided to resurrect “Something Done Right.”  This time, though, I will be less rigorous, and only post things that turned out particularly well.  Like this frittata, which transcended its humble recipe-free origins to become a lip-smaking good Monday dinner.

(Theoretically, there would be a picture of the dish here.  However, the leftover half is in gladware in the fridge, delicious but not photogenic.  So just pretend.)

Alton Brown favors quiche for his “refrigerator glue” applications, but I prefer the improvement in speed and healthfulness that comes from skipping the pȃte brisée.  I took a cue from Mark Bittman and went for a more-vegetable-than-egg frittata.  For this one, I poked my head in the fridge and came back with half an onion, assorted way-past-their-prime bell peppers, and some questionable shaved turkey.  My intention was to chop some tomatoes as well, but after some deliberation (“How do I feel about eating moldy tomatoes if I cut off the moldy parts first?”) I tossed the poor buggers and grabbed canned tomatoes and garlic from the pantry.

I decided to pre-cook the vegetables to mask their declining quality, and I think that made all the difference between “eh…frittata” and “ooooooh…frittata.”  I sautéed everything separately, not because I’m fussy like that, but because my largest nonstick pan is 9.5″ wide.  Meanwhile, I whisked together eggs, egg whites, a generous pinch of salt, a sprinkle of cayenne papper, and a dash of ground thyme.  (My thyme plant is still recovering from the “arctic blast” that hit Mississippi a few weeks back.  I’m not going to further traumatize it with inappropriately-timed harvesting.)  And you know what?  The ground thyme was actually perfect for this.

Back to the eggs: standard frittata procedure, everything on the stove for a while, then under the broiler to finish.  A minute into the broiling, after the top had started to firm up a bit, I pulled it out and grated some Swiss on top, then put it back in the oven.  I pulled it out a few minutes later, golden brown and smelling strongly of burnt plastic.  It turns out the phenolic resin handle on my skillet is not quite broiler-safe.  My long-suffering roommate made no comment; at this point, he’s just happy I didn’t set anything on fire.  (Don’t ask.)  I waited a few minutes for the eggs to set, and for the smell to dissipate, then dug in.  Delicious on its own, even better with a glass of good white wine, and a phenomenal end to a great MLK day.

The End

It is with moderately heavy heart that I announce the end of “Something Done Right.”  It was fun while it lasted, and looking at my catalogue of projects gave me a wonderful sense of accomplishment.  My backlog of unpublished projects is getting out of control.  Lately, though, the last thing I want to do once I finish a cake or a risotto or a sock is write about it.  There’s too much else to enjoy about this summer–visits from old friends, adventures with new ones, quiet mornings on the deck with my coffee, racous evenings at the Keg with my roommates.  I will leave you with a picture of my BFF Kev and our homemade ice cream, and I’ll let that sum up my summer in a way that endless blog posts cannot.

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

I thought that once I was finished with comps, my life would settle into a steady 8-to-5 routine.  That routine has yet to materialize.  As a result, I am currently over the moon about bean salads.  They go together with a minimum of fuss (if you’re using canned beans) and they actually taste best a few days after you make them.  You can pack them full of veggies.  Then you have a nutritous, filling one-part meal to throw in a rubbermaid and eat before yoga, after errands, in the middle of a long work day, or any other time you can squeeze in a few bites of something delicious.

The “chop some vegetables, add some beans” concept is pretty simple, but I wanted some guidance for the dressing, so I went with this Cooking Light recipe and was quite pleased with the results.  The salad would be prettier if I hadn’t run out of black beans and subbed in a can great northerns.  I had dried black beans, but not a time machine (rats!), so it is what it is.

Whole Wheat Scones

I made these scones with the oh-so-trusty KAF Guaranteed recipe, a dried fruit medley from the discount grocery (bluerries and cherries and cranberries and golden raisins, oh my!), and some of my dearly beloved whole wheat pastry flour.  The result: crumbly, tender, golden scones to brighten a Monday morning.

Pain aux Noix (sans noix)

I made the somewhat artisanal pain aux noix from Whole Grain Baking, but without the calorific two cups of walnuts.  It’s pretty good.  It doesn’t have the skin-tingling awesomeness of an artisanal white bread, but it’s the best whole wheat hearth bread I’ve found so far.  The recipe calls for a little butter, which is nice because it doesn’t go stale within a day.  That’s very useful for a girl who lives alone (or a girl whose roommates have only recently been introduced to scones and still regard homemade hearth bread with distrust).

Penitent Bagels

Perhaps you remember “Apology Scones?”  Now I present “I’m sorry I gave you the impression that your friendship isn’t important to me, when in fact I consider you one of my best friends down here and I feel terrible that my demeanor suggested otherwise” Bagels.

I believe there aren’t many rifts that can’t be smoothed over with whole wheat bagels and improved communication.

Clafoutis

Ever since I first learned of the provençal dessert clafoutis, I’ve been waiting for cherry season to come around so I could try it myself.  The general idea: a layer of unpitted cherries covered in a simple batter and baked until golden.  So delightfully simple, and so very provençal, no?

I finally made it this weekend, and I have to admit that I didn’t like it nearly as much as I thought I would.  It was decent, I suppose; the matrix was a little too custard-y but the baked cherries were sublime.  Now I’m dying to make cherry pie.  (Or at least cherry galette.)

Whole Grain Pancakes

I know I already wrote about these pancakes.  But I’m still so excited about this whole “mix” idea.  I just threw them together after the morning run.  (We did 14 miles today–it would be unhealthy not to carb up.)  I scooped a cup of mix out of the freezer, added a cup of buttermilk and an egg, and had healthy from-scratch pancakes with no more labor than Bisquick would have required!  Amazing!

White Chocolate-Lemon Biscotti

My way of saying thanks to Stacey for doing the heavy lifting (literally) for the TNT hamburger plate lunch the week of the event, when I was busy with my prospectus.  We raised almost $1000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

For future reference: this flavor combination is top-notch.  I am in thrall to the power of lemon zest.

Also: apologies for the (especially) poor quality of the photo.  It was taken this morning between bites of oatmeal and gulps of water this morning at 5:30.