I modified and abused this recipe quite a bit. The original was meant to be a 30-minute meal. It used pre-cooked chicken sausages along with "quick-cooking barley" (which I'd never heard of before). I had some regular old pot barley and some beef and barley sausages, so I made it with that. And, since my sausages were not pre-cooked, I decided to cook them on the stovetop. And since I already had the pan out for that, I decided to just convert the whole recipe to be done on the stovetop. Oh, and I also omitted all but 1 Tbsp. of the oil called for (1/3 c. in the original recipe). And, because I'm trying to be a bit health-conscious, I also cut back (slightly) on the Parmesan and the pistachios. Personally, I think it worked quite well! But I realize that it's quite a bit different from what the original recipe described.

Also, I didn't think of this until after I was already eating a bowl, but I think some pomegranate seeds/arils and/or a drizzle of pomegranate molasses would go quite nicely with this dish. Pistachios and pomegranate are such a nice combination! I've listed pomegranate as an optional ingredient below. Feel free to give it a try!

Photo goes here.

Barley with Broccoli and Sausage

Adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2018

Ingredients

• 1 c. pot barley
• 1-2 c. chicken stock
• 1-2 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 450g beef, chicken, or lamb sausages
• 340g broccoli, cut into florets
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/3 c. shelled pistachios
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the barley with the chicken stock and water. You want a total of 3 c. of liquid, but the exact proportions aren't super important. If you're using mostly water, or if your chicken stock isn't very salty, add ~1/4 tsp. of salt as well.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover and reduce to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook the sausages.
4. Once the sausages are mostly done, add the broccoli and continue cooking.
5. Once the sausages are nicely browned on all sides and cooked through, remove them from the pan.
6. Season the broccoli with 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil and continue cooking over medium heat until broccoli starts to develop some good browning.
7. Reduce heat slightly and add the pistachios and cook until they are toasted and dark, but not burnt.
8. Remove from heat and add the garlic. Let it sizzle in the residual heat of the pan.
9. Chopp the sausages and return them to the pan.
10. Once the barley is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed, remove from heat and stir in the cheese.
11. Stir the contents of the pan into the barley.
12. Stir in the basil and pomegranate (if using).