Ways to Include More Barley in Your Diet

If you are looking for a healthy superfood with a nutty flavor, barley is it! Many people eat barely without knowing it, especially if they eat different types of healthy cereals. However, you might find that you never eat it in your diet, but want to benefit from the various vitamins and nutrients it can provide you. Here are some different ideas for getting more barley into your diet.

Prepare Baked Goods

The first thing you can do with barley is to prepare different types of baked goods. This is a really easy way to have delicious food while also increasing your barley intake for the various health benefits. All you have to do is use just half what flour in a recipe you were intending to make, then put the other half in with barley flour instead. This works great for baked goods like breads and muffins.

Add Barley to Soup and Chili

If you don’t really care for the nutty flavor of barley, it is still possible to include it in your diet. Why not try adding it to your soup, stew or chili? This doesn’t take away from the rich flavor of your homemade soup, but it does add some heartiness and thickness to it. It is similar to when you add rice to your soup or chili to make a thicker and meatier soup.

Prepare a Salad With Barley

When you are in the mood for a salad, add some cooked barley to it to kick it up a healthy notch. One great salad is a beet salad, which also happens to be a superfood! Combine your beets and barley with some red onion, rainbow chard, and feta for a hearty, filling, and super healthy lunch or dinner. Another option is to make a cold salad that combines vegetables, barley and some light dressing.

Try Barley Risotto

Risotto is a delicious dish that is easy to customize with other flavors. The problem is that it isn’t always the healthiest option, so you might instead want to replace it and choose an alternative form of grain, like barley. There is a great recipe that uses cauliflower chopped small along with cooked barley to make your dish. Combine with lean meat and steamed vegetables for a healthy dinner.

Make Hot Morning Cereal

When you aren’t in the mood for eggs or cold cereal, you probably crave hot cereal instead. This is when it is time to get that barley out. You can either use barley flakes or cracked barley to prepare hot cereal. You will make it just like how you make oatmeal from steel-cut oats.