Baked Barley

Ok, don't get all freaky...this is good and good for you! About a year ago I decided to learn more about healthy eating. I started the process of increasing what I call "clean" food into my diet. I found this recipe and have become a fan of barley. This dish has a flavor that reminds me of old-fashioned stuffing. If I don't have shallots and leeks I just increase the amount of onion. It's great as a replacement to potatoes or white rice. Not only is it great hot it's really good cold, served in a pita, tortilla or lettuce wrap.

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (buy at raw at health food retailer)
3 shallots, peeled and minced (they are a form of an onion)
1 onion, minced
1 leek, well cleaned and thinly sliced
3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup barley (I buy at health food retailer)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried marjoram
2 Tbl low-sodium all-natural tamari (basically soy sauce)
3 cups boiling vegetable stock or water (I use chicken stock)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast the sunflower seeds in the oven for about 7 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from oven. Leave oven on for baking of barley.

In a large skillet, saute' the shallots, onions, and leek in the olive oil for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, celery, sunflower seeds, barley, herbs and tamari and continue to saute for 5 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Add the vegetable stock or water to the barley mixture. Bring to a boil and transfer the mixture to a casserole dish. Bake, covered for 1 1/4 hours.