Tasty, Hearty, Veggie Dinner

Last night was one of those nights when I couldn't think of anything at home that sounded remotely good for dinner and I felt too lazy to stop by the grocery store or go out to dinner. I've been eating a lot of pasta the last few days and was craving something fresh and healthy, but a salad didn't sound good... so I turned to the internet for inspiration and came across a couple of good options.

This recipe from The Wednesday Chef looked great, but I didn't have any of the ingredients.  So I kept hunting. Then I found this recipe on Orangette and decided I'd do something similar, but with a twist. I had a bunch of veggie odds and ends around and thought I'd throw everything together and see what came out (I knew I could always fall back on a bowl of cheerios).

I started by sauteing half an onion (chopped) in olive oil. Once the onion was soft and transparent I added one clove of garlic minced and salt and pepper. Next was half a can of diced tomatoes and half a can of black beans. Separately, I boiled half a cup of barely and one carrot (I fished the carrot slices out before they became mushy and added them to the tomato/black bean mixture).  While I was waiting for the barley to finish cooking I noticed the ingredients in the saute pan were starting to get a little dry despite being on low, so I added a bit of beef broth (I would have preferred chicken or vegetable broth, but we only had beef broth in the pantry). Once the barley had cooked through, I added some chopped swiss chard to the saute pan and let it cook for a couple of minutes. I served the vegetable mixed over a bed of barley (rice, couscous or lentils would also work great I think). The meal was surprisingly delicious and only took about 30 minutes (most of that was waiting for the barely to cook)! I think I'll put it on a regular rotation, using whatever veggies I have on hand at the end of the week.

Note: this ended up being more than I could eat on my own, but not enough for two (Ian didn't have faith my cooking prowess/was too hungry to wait and opted for left over spaghetti. He ended up trying a few bites of mine and gave it his seal of approval).  In the future I plan to double the "recipe".