Barley, a cheap nutricious food

This week I made herb-basted chicken and barley with root vegetable pilaf.  This was hearty fare that we got three meals out of with three (big) chicken breast halves.  Never expected to have it stretch so far for two people. 
I used onion, carrot, parsnips and butternut squash for the veggies and used about 2 cups instead of 1 1/2.  Used fresh thyme from the garden but substituted my own dried rosemary for fresh.  Stuck in a garlic clove for the hell of it.  The bacon really perked the barley up!  Root vegetables are cheap and the chicken breasts were on sale for a good price. 
A one pound bag of barley (did not by the fancy organic)  has a lot of mileage in it, and my next barley meal will be a vegetable beef soup with barley, also cheap with a lean cut of beef, more root vegetables and the barley, of course. 


In case you're salivating already, here is the recipe: Herb Basted Chicken with Pearl Barley, Bacon and Root Vegetable Pilaf



Winter demands hearty fare.  Soup is wonderful.  Eat more soup.