A Mediterranean Diet friendly meal.

I blogged recently about going on the Mediterranean diet for my health as I’m getting older. I’ve got a few cookbooks with recipes, but after a while you get a feel for what you can come up with on your own. This quick stew is my own concoction.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 ounces chopped carrots
• 2 ounces chopped celery
• 2 ounces chopped onions
• 1/4 cup uncooked pearl barley, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cup low sodium, low fat chicken broth
• 3 ounces cooked chicken
• 1 large kale leaf, stem removed, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

If you don’t have a scale, 2 ounces is about 1/4 cup; 4 ounces is about 1/2 cup. If you don’t use low sodium chicken broth, you won’t have to add salt. I buy roasted “pulled” chicken at the supermarket. (Thanks, Bill, for the tip!) I only used 3 ounces of chicken because it looked like enough and I’m trying to keep calorie count down.

Steps

1. In a small saucepan, heat oil.
2. Add carrots, celery, and onions. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes on medium heat until soft.
3. Stir in barley and cook for another minute or so.
4. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer and cover. Cook 30 minutes or until barley is soft. It will absorb much of the liquid.
5. Add chicken and kale. Simmer until chicken is heated through and kale is wilted.
6. Serve with salt and pepper to taste.

Yields one very generous serving or two small servings. Total calories is about 450. You can reduce the calories by using less barley (1/4 cup is 163 calories) or less chicken (3 ounces is 142 calories). I’m thinking I’ll make it with 2 tablespoons of barley, 2 ounces of chicken, and 1 cup of broth next time. That’ll chop off 100 calories and yield a single normal serving.

-o-

Oh, and isn’t it refreshing to read a recipe on a website that doesn’t bombard you with a million pictures and a long, boring story about making the recipe? Seriously: what are some of these food bloggers thinking? When I look for a recipe, I want the recipe, not details of the blogger’s intimate relationship with it.