Barley There

Unlike many other ancient grains, barley has managed to maintain a modest degree of modern visibility. Most people are far more likely to recognize it in its whole grain form than as a flour. Even so, I’d wager the first thing that came to mind when I mentioned “barley” was soup. Mushroom-barley, vegetable-barley, beef-barley; it’s been pigeonholed into brothy comfort food for so long that it’s easy to forget how versatile and diverse it truly is.

Black Nile Barley is a perfect example. Past the familiar taxonomy of hulled, hulless, quick, and pearl barley lies a world of heirloom cultivars. Wrapped in a rich purple-black sheath, this dramatic variety is poised to pull barley out of the stockpot and back onto the center of the table. No mere novelty, this rare heritage grain isn’t found in your average grocery store. 

Trying Grand Teton Ancient Grains Black Nile Barley berries changed everything I thought I knew about the grain. Instead of the pale, utilitarian barley found collecting dust in bulk bags, these berries looked almost jewel-like. Cooked, they held their shape beautifully, delivering a pleasantly chewy texture and a depth of flavor that felt far more akin to wild rice or farro than the barley of my childhood.

Black Nile Barley Tabbouleh

Origin of the Original Barley

Descended from dark-pigmented barley strains historically grown in the Nile River region, evidence of wild barley dates back over 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent and the Tibetan Plateau. In Ancient Egypt, Black Nile Barley was the food of the people, while emmer was reserved for nobility. Thriving alongside the Nile River, barley was abundant and affordable, feeding both humans and animals alike. While selective breeding has often prioritized yield and uniformity, it has also stripped away the vitality, nutrition, and complex flavors that once defined it.

Mediterranean Black Nile Barley Salad

Barley a Difference

What about black barley? Black barley isn’t a single variety, but rather a broad category encompassing any barley with a naturally dark outer bran. Black Nile Barley is one such variety, distinguished by its origin and heirloom pedigree. While all Black Nile Barley is black barley, not all black barley is Black Nile Barley. Other black barley cultivars are grown throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, each with its own history, flavor, and growing characteristics. The distinction is similar to that between apples and Honeycrisp apples or rice and Carolina Gold rice. Black Nile Barley, such as that grown by Grand Teton Ancient Grains, preserves the defining characteristics of this historic cultivar that make it so special.

Black Nile Barley Pitaya Porridge

Nutritional Dark Horse

Even the most impoverished Egyptians found great nourishment in Black Nile Barley. Distinguished by its naturally dark indigo bran, the color comes from anthocyanins, the same family of pigments that gives blueberries, black rice, and purple corn their dramatic hues, along with a impressive dose of antioxidants. Aside from the arresting color, even more notable is remarkable amount of manganese in every 1/2 cup (cooked) serving, to the tune of 97% of your RDA. It’s also a great source of thiamine, selenium, magnesium, riboflavin, niacin, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and copper. Who needs supplements when you can eat your vitamins?

In case you’re worried more about the bigger picture of macronutrients, don’t worry; Black Nile Barley has you covered. Barley has more fiber and protein than modern wheat, at a whopping 16 grams and 11 – 12 grams, respectively. Because the outer bran remains intact, you get many more nutritional benefits than pearl barley, too. The only dietary caution is that it does contain gluten, and is thus unsuitable for our celiac friends.

Black Nile Barley and Vegetable Soup

What Does Black Nile Barley Taste Like?

Pearl barley is prized for its mild, subtly sweet, and agreeable taste that plays well with all herbs and spices. Black Nile Barley has a bolder character that isn’t afraid to make itself known. Possessing an incredible depth of flavor that leads with notes of roasted nuts, bitter cacao, and freshly brewed coffee, it unfolds into a rich, earthy complexity with a lingering finish reminiscent of dark toast and molasses. Bold yet balanced, it’s a grain that refuses to stay in the background, bringing character and intensity to every dish it touches.

How to Cook Black Nile Barley

Like all unprocessed whole grains, Black Nile Barley rewards a little patience. On the plus side, it’s much harder to overcook, and grains remain firm and toothsome for a wide range of possible uses. Rinsing the grains before cooking is a good idea to remove any dust or field debris, but soaking isn’t necessary.

  • Stove Top: Combine 1 cup of Black Nile Barley with 3 cups of water or broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 45 – 60 minutes, or until the grains are tender but still pleasantly chewy. If any liquid remains, simply drain it before serving. Letting the barley rest for 5 to 10 minutes off the heat allows the grains to firm up slightly and absorb any remaining moisture.
  • Pressure Cooker: Combine 1 cup of Black Nile Barley with 2 1/2 cups of water or broth and cook on High Pressure for 20 – 25 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for about 10 minutes before venting any remaining pressure. Drain if needed. The result is evenly cooked barley with a tender interior and satisfying bite.

Black Nile Barley Veggie Burger

Black Nile Barley Uses and Recipe Ideas

Anywhere you’d reach for farro, wheat berries, brown rice, or even quinoa, Black Nile Barley can step in just as easily. Lending both visual appeal and satisfying bite to everything from simple side dishes to hearty mains, it’s a remarkably versatile ingredient that deserves far more than a supporting role.

  • Grain bowls: Build a hearty meal by topping cooked Black Nile Barley with roasted vegetables, crispy tofu, beans, avocado, or a drizzle of tahini. Its chewy texture holds up well under warm and cold toppings alike.
  • Grain salads: Toss cooled barley with fresh herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted vegetables, nuts, vegan cheese, or a bright vinaigrette. Unlike softer grains, it stays pleasantly firm even after a day in the refrigerator. That makes it especially great fodder for packed school lunches, travel, picnics, and potlucks.
  • Pilafs: Sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms before simmering the barley in vegetable broth. Finish with fresh herbs for a simple yet deeply flavorful side dish.
  • Soups and stews: While Black Nile Barley is versatile enough to move beyond soup, it still excels in its most familiar role. The grains absorb broth without losing their shape, making them ideal for vegetable, mushroom, or bean-based soups.
  • Breakfast porridge: Cook the barley until tender, then serve with your favorite non-dairy milk, cinnamon, maple syrup or agave, toasted nuts, and fresh or dried fruit for a hearty alternative to oatmeal.
  • Stuffed vegetables: Mix cooked barley with sautéed vegetables, herbs, vegan cheese, and/or meatless grounds before stuffing cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, or winter squash. 
  • Veggie burgers: Fold cooked barley into bean- or lentil-based burger mixtures to add texture, structure, and a satisfying chew.
  • Risotto, AKA barlotto: Swap Arborio rice for barley to create a rustic variation on risotto with any seasonal vegetables on hand.
  • Bread: Typically used alongside at least some wheat flour, barley flour by itself makes incredibly dense loaves. Best served toasted or alongside brothy dishes where it can soak up liquid, a bread that leans into heft rather than levity, often improved by a touch of moisture or fat to soften its naturally tight crumb.
  • Pilaf: Simply cooked with broth, olive oil, butter, or fresh herbs, Black Nile Barley makes an excellent side dish to pair with your favorite plant-based protein. If you want to spice things up, consider adding curry powder, toasted cashews, and fresh cilantro to make a biryani-inspired variation.

The Stuff(ing) of Legends

Barley has culinary potential that far exceeds its traditional trappings of soup and stew, but there’s still merit in those classic parings. Deeply comforting, tried-and-true, mushroom-barley soup is the unshakable foundation that inspired these stuffed peppers. Instead of watering things down with a half gallon of broth, the same earthy flavors are concentrated into a hearty filling of sautéed onions, mushrooms, herbs, and chewy Black Nile Barley. Tucked inside sweet bell peppers and baked until tender, they capture everything that makes the classic pairing so enduring while proving that barley deserves a place well beyond the stock pot.

What’s Old is New Again

Black Nile Barley is a bridge to the past. Cultivated for millennia yet largely absent from modern menus, the fresh crop from Grand Teton Ancient Grains offers a rare opportunity to reconnect with one of humanity’s oldest cultivated grains. Its remarkable history is reason enough to seek it out, but its rich, nutty flavor, satisfying chew, and remarkable versatility are what earn it a permanent place in my pantry.

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Hannah (BitterSweet)1 Comment

Shout It From The Rooftops

Some experiments are born from necessity, others from unbound curiosity. Then, there are those born purely of heatstroke-induced insanity, or so it would seem when the idea first struck me. With forecasts hovering at a scorching 106 degrees and the sun pounding down without an ounce of mercy, I had to do something with all that heat. If I could fry vegan eggs on the sidewalk, bake cookies in a car, and cook lasagna in a mailbox, could I go bigger? Could I bake a whole pizza… On the roof?

Getting Baked

Sure, conventional ovens are reliable, fast, and hygienic. However, when the summer heat sets in, baking the entire earth itself, why waste more energy and jack up the temperature inside the house, too? Let nature do the heavy lifting, especially when the ambient heat is already intense enough to melt the soles off your sneakers.

While 106 degrees is impressive for a forecast, it isn’t even close to hot enough to bake a whole pizza from scratch. Professional pizza ovens can easily reach 900 degrees or more, while a home oven tops out around 500. If this was going to work, I was going to need to bring in the heavy artillery, in the form of cast iron.

Cooking Time 0:00

Heavy Metal Pizza Party

Did you think I was about to just toss a whole pie up there a la Breaking Bad? I was originally planning on using a sheet pan just to keep things clean, but then I realized my trusty cast iron skillet could do more than just contain the mess. While direct sunlight delivers a steady stream of radiant energy, a dark, sturdy cooking vessel can absorb and retain some of it.

It takes a 12-inch cast iron skillet to contain the average frozen pizza, which is what we’re working with here. It can’t have a rising crust or start from raw dough for this to work at all. A thin, already par-baked frozen pizza is the best candidate because we’re really reheating and finishing it, rather than asking the sun to perform the considerably more demanding task of baking raw dough from scratch. A prepared shelf-stable crust could work in a pinch, too, although I personally find most of them about as appetizing as cardboard. Flavor may be a secondary objective here, but it still counts.

Don’t Be Like Walter White in Breaking Bad

Sun-Kissed Skillet

By placing the empty skillet in direct, unobstructed sunlight, it can effectively preheat while the sun reaches its peak. The shingles underneath play an important role, too. A dark roof sitting in direct summer sunlight can become dramatically hotter than the surrounding air, effectively turning the entire surface into a giant solar collector.

I chose a reasonably flat, level section of roof with maximum sun exposure. A sloped roof might be more architecturally interesting, but it’s a terrible place to balance several pounds of screaming-hot cookware. If your skillet starts slowly migrating toward the gutter, the experiment has officially gone too far.

Once the skillet had spent some time soaking up the midday sun, I added the frozen pizza and covered it with a clear glass lid. Heat-safe plastic wrap would work as well, if you don’t have a matching set. The idea is to create a miniature greenhouse, allowing sunlight to pass through the clear cover, while the enclosed air and accumulated heat can’t escape as readily. It also provides a critical secondary function: keeping the flies off. Even rooftop pizza attracts freeloaders.

Cooking Time 0:50

Let There Be Light

Timing is crucial. I started the experiment around noon, when the sun was approaching its strongest point. A clear day is essential; clouds may not lower the air temperature much, but they can dramatically reduce the radiant energy reaching your setup. This is also where patience becomes mandatory. An oven can cook a pizza in minutes, while the sun will take hours.

After about an hour, the cheese had begun to glisten, starting to sweat under scrutiny. After 2 hours, it was reasonably liquefied. Given how notoriously difficult it is to melt vegan cheese to a reasonable degree, this marks a huge success. The crust, of course, remained pale as a ghost, but at least it looked dry, if rather floppy.

The roof itself reached over 170 degrees, and with the combination of direct sunlight, dark cast iron, and the greenhouse effect from the clear cover, the enclosed cooking environment likely climbed to around 200 degrees or more. That’s still nowhere near standard cooking temperatures, but it was enough to gradually heat the pizza through.

Cooking Time 1:55

Notes From the Field

A few things became very clear over the course of this ridiculous experiment:

  • Peak sun matters. Start around noon and take advantage of the strongest sunlight between roughly 12 and 3 PM. Don’t expect the same results if you start late in the afternoon, even if it’s still brutally hot.
  • Clouds are the enemy. This experiment depends on direct solar radiation, not simply hot air. Wait for the clearest day you can find.
  • Flat is not optional. A level roof keeps the skillet where you put it. A pitched roof turns your solar oven into a potential pizza sled.
  • Use a dark, heavy pan. Cast iron absorbs and retains heat far better than a lightweight, shiny baking sheet, making it much better suited to this slow solar bake.
  • Give the skillet time to preheat. Put the empty pan out before adding the pizza, ideally for at least 1 hour, allowing it to absorb as much heat as possible before the pizza enters the picture.
  • Keep it covered. The clear lid or plastic wrap traps heat and creates the greenhouse effect while keeping insects, dust, leaves, and other rooftop debris out of your lunch.
  • Choose your pizza carefully. Thin crust and already par-baked are essential. Skip raw dough, rising crusts, deep dish, and anything heavily loaded with wet toppings. The sun has limits.
  • Use an infrared thermometer. The weather forecast tells you the air temperature. The thermometer tells you what your pizza is actually dealing with. Check the roof, pan, and pizza itself periodically.
  • Be patient. Commit somewhere between 2 – 3 hours for this project. Conditions will vary, so think of the clock as a guideline rather than a guarantee.
  • Don’t leave it unattended. This is a heavy, hot piece of cookware sitting on a roof. Keep an eye on the setup, especially if there’s any wind, and only attempt the experiment somewhere you can safely access and where the surface can support you and the equipment.
  • Protect yourself. Always use potholders, even after the lower-intensity preheating stage. That also means to apply sunscreen liberally, stay in the shade when you can, and drink plenty of water! Spend too much time out there with your pizza, and you’ll start cooking, too.

Nothing New Under The Sun

Unsurprisingly, this method will never produce the best pizza you’ve ever had. It won’t even produce the most acceptable pizza you’ve ever had. It will, however, give you an edible pizza-like substance, albeit completely lacking in structural integrity. Similar to the effect of tossing a day-old slice in the microwave for 30 seconds, but with a few hours of work and the risk of heat exhaustion, it’s objectively one of the least satisfying ways to prepare dinner.

At least I’m not one to be deterred by impracticality. If anything, the sheer absurdity of the whole concept is what made it so appealing. Once I got it into my head, I simply had to see the plan in action. What else am I supposed to do when it’s too hot to leave the house, after all? I’m sure my neighbors already think I’m a little strange, but crouching on the roof in the middle of a heatwave with a cast iron skillet and a camera probably didn’t do much to dispel that notion.

Maybe next heatwave, I’ll have a better idea, or at least one that doesn’t require explaining myself to the nice people living next door.

Hannah (BitterSweet)11 Comments

Acts of Lasagna

Lasagna is an act of love. Make no mistake, when you sit down to a glorious stack of noodles, red sauce, and cheese, someone is making a statement about their feelings. They’ve chosen to spend a solid chunk of their day planning, prepping, simmering, layering, and baking, all to share something that will disappear in minutes. Even quick fixes or make-ahead recipes declare, loud and clear, “I care about you.”

Love isn’t simple and easy like the movies, though, and a hot, freshly baked slab of lasagna isn’t always within reach. Time and energy for cooking is at a premium, especially for young families as school starts up once again. That doesn’t mean we should make compromises, in showing love, receiving it, or eating homemade lasagna. That’s what skillet lasagna was made for.

Home Skillet

Stack the deck in your favor without making sloppy stacks of noodles that will only be knocked over on the plate. Skillet lasagna keeps everything that matters while cutting out the time-consuming pageantry. Undulating ribbons of broken lasagna noodles tangle within a rich ragu beneath a crown of bubbling, lightly browned melted cheese. Instead of carefully constructing layer upon layer and waiting for the oven to work its magic, the whole thing comes together in under 30 minutes, start to finish, ready to serve right out of the pan.

Mushrooms Over Meat

The real secret to success is the incredible meaty umami imparted by Fungitarian Marinara. Given how unremarkable all of the other ingredients are, I was honestly shocked at the remarkable depth of flavor I found at the end of my fork. These saucy shrooms do the heavy lifting here, bringing a long-simmered complexity that tastes like it should have taken hours to develop. Walnuts and red lentils help complete that meaty sensation with toothsome texture and deeply satisfying protein in spades. It’s the kind of robust gravy that even your Italian nonna would be impressed by.

Use Your Noodles

Just because this dish was inspired by lasagna, it doesn’t mean you need to strictly stick to lasagna noodles. Any pasta will work, really, with my top suggestions being:

  • Mafalda: Short, wide, frilly ribbons that are essentially mini lasagna sheets, I would actually prefer these more than the full-sized version broken into pieces, but they’re more expensive and difficult to find.
  • Pappardelle, linguine, or fettuccini, broken into pieces: Though narrower, you’ll still enjoy a similar experience with small sheets of pasta in every bite.
  • Penne, ziti, rigatoni, or elbows: Any tube shape is ideal for holding more sauce, and this is definitely one saucy dish.

Truly, any noodle you prefer will work, as long as it’s cooked al dente before it hits the skillet. That includes alternatives like gluten-free pasta, high-protein pasta, and whole grain pasta.

Streamlined Solutions

For that matter, you could make this a one-pan meal if you wanted to use no-boil noodles to begin with. While I prefer cooking standard lasagna noodles separately to prevent them from getting mushy, if that extra pot of boiling water is what’s standing between you and a home-cooked dinner, by all means, take the assist when you can. In that case, you’ll want to add the broken no-boil noodles at the same time as the marinara, and increase the amount of broth to 2 1/2 – 3 cups total, adjusting as needed to yield tender pasta and plenty of sauce.

Smart Swaps

Call it “deconstructed” if you’re feeling fancy and don’t be afraid to make it your own! Want it cheesier? Fold extra vegan mozzarella shreds in before broiling, or drop dollops of tofu ricotta on top afterwards. Can’t eat nuts? Substitute crumbled tempeh or in a pinch, omit entirely. I’ve also had fantastic results using Fungitarian Original, and I have a good feeling that Asian Zing or Taco would be excellent candidates when you’re craving something more like a spicy arrabiata sauce.

Say It With Lasagna

Lasagna will always be a dish that comes straight from the heart, no matter what form it takes. I think “acts of lasagna” is my primary love language, since it leaves no room for ambiguity. There’s no second-guessing when someone feeds you lasagna, be it traditional, skillet, shortcut, or somewhere in between. They’re wearing their heart on their sleeve as plainly as the pasta on your plate. Making it more complicated doesn’t make it any better. Even if you’re cooking solo and planning for leftovers, self-love is essential, too. We all deserve more lasagna in our lives.

Continue reading “Acts of Lasagna” →

Hannah (BitterSweet)13 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Cocktail Culture

Curra’s Grill – Avocado Margarita
Daydreamer – Hibiscus Harmony
Daydreamer – Hidalgo Spritz
Daydreamer – The Right Path
Daydreamer – NA Cocktails
Fords Gin – Gin & Tonic
Fords Gin – Martinis
Hanghart – Competitor’s Kick
Hanghart – Johnny & Ginger Highball
Trona – Durango Gimlet
Trona – Michoacan Negroni
Trona – Tampiqueña Martini
Vivo – Rocks Margarita, Frozen Margarita, Cucumber Margarita

Hannah (BitterSweet)3 Comments

Beauty Queen

Despite never in my life having dabbled in the world of psychedelics, I swore I was hallucinating the first time I saw beautyberries. How else could you explain such lurid, luminous purple berries, clustered like overstuffed pincushions on branches? Growing right in my backyard, seeming to spring up out of nothing, they were unlike anything I’d ever seen in nature. Alarm bells ringing, everything about them screamed “POISON!” to my untrained eye. Perhaps unsurprising to those who know me, my instincts were spectacularly wrong.

Follow The Neon Signs

Native to much of the southeastern United States, these jewel-toned fruits have long been prized by people and wildlife alike, though you’ll never find them at grocery stores or farmers markets. Native beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) grows wild from Texas to Florida and up through much of the Southeast, thriving along woodland edges, roadsides, and sunny clearings. The berries ripen in late summer and early fall, forming their signature clusters of impossibly bright purple fruit wrapped tightly around the stems. Unmistakably recognizable, they standing out like neon signs against the muted greens and browns of the landscape.

Fresh Isn’t Always Best

Historically, Indigenous peoples used various parts of the plant for medicinal purposes, while both Native Americans and early settlers recognized its value as a food source. Frankly, their flavor is not their best quality. Tart, tannic, dry, earthy, herbal and somewhat medicinal, few people would consider them a snack. Probably for the best, as consuming large amounts of raw beautyberries could be digestively ruinous, at least in the short term. That said, a handful or two can really brighten up and boring salad. Adding visual and flavor contrast, a little bit goes a long way.

Jam Session

Where beautyberries truly come to life is in the kitchen. Their naturally vivid pigment produces jewel-toned jellies, syrups, wines, and teas while adding much-needed sweetness. Beautyberry jelly has become the plant’s signature modern preparation, being the quickest, easiest, and most satisfying way to dispatch a large harvest of the questionable fruit. Don’t expect that color to hold through baking or fermentation, though; they betray their neon facade as the anthocyanins breakdown when exposed to heat and acidity.

Bug Off

One of the biggest assets of beautyberries has nothing to do with food. Crushing the fresh leaves and rubbing them onto the skin serves as a reasonably effective mosquito repellent. Research has shown that compounds in the leaves, particularly callicarpenal and related chemicals, can help deter mosquitoes and other biting insects. While not as long-lasting or consistent as commercial solutions, it’s a godsend for anyone stuck off the beaten track when the blood-sucking swarms descend.

Beauties And The Beasts

Beautyberries could be mistaken for an engineered hoax. In this age of artifice, even I can’t believe my eyes when they light up the back yard every late summer, waving their violently violet pompoms in the wind. They’ll stain everything you own if you given them half a chance, and still, I wouldn’t dream of uprooting my wild shrubbery. Any plant that can be simultaneously beautiful, baffling, and vaguely threatening deserves to thrive.

Hannah (BitterSweet)9 Comments