Low sodium but flavorful way to cook barley and other grains
I've been boiling barley in low-sodium chicken broth but I'd like to use less sodium than that, but still make the barley or brown rice flavorful. How do you cook your grains? Thanks.
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I like to use different herbs but especially bay leaf, and I often put in large pieces of veg that I pull out when fluffing the grain (the dog gets these). The soaking liquid from re-hydrating dried mushrooms is very flavorful, and of course homemade stock can be as low in sodium as you want.
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I've been thinking about this...I usually bake my brown rice and barley according to Alton Brown's recipes...just love how they come out! But, I always CUT the kosher salt he calls for...and what I do is use my grains with other yummy items that are vehicles for flavor...does this make any sense? In other words, I rarely eat just barley or brown rice by themselves...the other night, I sauteed some fresh crushed garlic in olive oil...then I added a bunch (couple of handfuls) of fresh spinach, let that wilt, then I added some garlic chili sauce to that and finished it with a little orange juice and spritzed it with Bragg's Liquid Aminos (tastes like soy sauce)...had that over the brown rice and man, was I happy. And the barley, I usually add that to some kind of flavorful mushroom concoction...varies all the time, but I think actually cooking the grains doesn't have to be so flavorful but putting them WITH another food is the way to add flavor.
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re: Val
goodhealthgourmet
Jan 10, 2010 01:53 PM
"I sauteed some fresh crushed garlic in olive oil"
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you can do that (i like to add minced onions or shallots too) and then saute the raw rice or barley in it for a few minutes before cooking it. adds a ton of flavor to the grains.
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