Hooray for you, Mari Sasano.

So, some days it’s impossible to really get motivated to do anything strenuous. This was one of those days. But still, one needs to eat!

Thankfully, I had some leftover rice pilaf in the fridge, so I decided to fry it up and make it a meal. My mom used to make fried rice, and I always loved it. It’s called cha-han, in Japanese. Doesn’t that make it sound more special? It sounds homey and comforting to me. And it’s a great way to use up leftovers, if you have them.

The rice already had carrots and celery in it, but as a nod to my health, I added some frozen peas for a boost of green. In a frying pan, I melted some butter (the flavour is so much better than with oil), and dumped a beaten egg into it and gave it a quick scramble. Then the rice went in. Stir, stir, stir, serve.

While still wearing pajamas at 5 pm, of course. What? It’s been a hard week!

Holy crap, is barley ever amazing! I like to put it in soups, but Liz Lepper, who I ran into yesterday, makes a risotto with it. AMAZING.

It is as simple as rice risotto. Easier, maybe. Certainly, it’s tasty. It also happens to be a whole grain, as opposed to arborio rice which is pretty refined. Apparently it helps regulate blood sugar, which is a nice quality in a starchy meal.

First, saute a chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil until translucent. Then throw in a cup or so of barley and give a quick stir. Then add stock a little at a time, letting the grain soak up the liquid before adding more. Stir, stir, stir. I added a bunch of chopped mushrooms: crimini, shiitake, and porcini. The Shiitake and porcinis were dried, so I soaked them in hot water to reconstitute, and used that water as part of the cooking liquid. All told, about 3 cups of liquid went into the risotto.

Once that is done, grate about a half cup of parmesan or romano cheese and sprinkle some on top if you want it cheesier. Warm, comforting food! I served it with some sauteed cabbage, just for extra healthiness. Damn, it IS hard to motivate yourself to eat vegetables at this time of year, isn’t it?

Anyhow, the meal was soooo good. And it keeps better than arborio risotto, so I just had some for lunch just right now!