(Posted a version of this to my private journal a few days ago; I've got another pot of barley soaking on the stove now, so I'll have a hearty dinner ready for me in while)

As of tonight, barley is my favorite grain. Even more than rice, or bulgar (aka wheat) or corn. Period. Om-Nom. More, please. Yes.

I've loved pearled barley for years. And came up with this vegan recipe a few years ago: Chickpea and barley vegie stew (substitute vegies and spices as taste and/or allergies require. I imagine it would also be yummy with black beans, or white navy beans, or... whatever).

Pearled barley is the refined, "white" version of the grain. And even refined, it has just as much fiber as brown rice, and takes just as long to cook (Exactly the same grain-to-liquid ratio and exactly the same cooking time). So I took cookbooks at their word that unrefined (aka "hulled,") barley was basically inedible.

But then, I started tofind recipes for hulled barley online, that made it seem like it was even easier to cook, if you just pre-soaked it -- presoak it for a couple of hours, and then it only needs half an hour on the boil.

So, since barley isn't available in my local grocery any more (at least, not in the summer, when people don't think about cooking stews), I looked for, and found, a five-pound bag of hulled barley online. So I done bought it.

And tonight, I cooked some up for the first time. I presoaked it for ... oh, I dunno, 2 and a half hours, maybe, drained off that liquid, and then boiled it in fresh water (since rinsing it in a sieve is recommended, but I couldn't find my sieve). Sure enough, it was all puffed up, and perfectly al dente in half an hour, and it didn't need as much water as I used. And when I took the lid off the pot, I swear -- it smelled like warm toast, drizzled with honey.

Didn't taste exactly that sweet, but it was still nutty and chewy, and ... om-nom.

One cooking/recipe site online suggested substituting cooked and chilled barley for pasta in any of your favorite pasta salad recipes. And I can totally see that. NB -- I'm imagining an om-nom pasta barley salad with peas, and diced red onion, and parsley and finely diced zuchini and tomato that would be perfect for (for yon Pagans out there) your Lammas potluck picnics, since Lammas is, traditionally, a celebration of the barley harvest.

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Barley poured into the bowl, and raised in a toast to the host is wonderful -- but --

I've got a mini-mission to spread the word that barley is all 'round edible, so I can find it easily at my grocery store, without having to hunt it down, and pay extra for it, at health food stores.