Creamy Avocado Barley Risotto

I hope you are enjoying a day off today to begin the long weekend. :)

I can’t say I’m having a Good Friday so far. I’m not one to really make a fuss about aches and pains, but this cold is a nasty one! My sore throat is getting worse and worse and the pain shoots right up to my ears when I swallow. Ow. The voice is fading…the glands are sore. I hope it is not a throat infection. I might have to go to a walk-in clinic tomorrow if I don’t improve today.

The morning and nighttime hours have been the worst for my sore throat, with temporary relief in the afternoon. Yesterday, my pain improved a lot in the afternoon and I was actually able to work up an appetite for some solid food!

Earlier this week, I thought it would be delicious to make a spin-off of two of my favourite quick & easy dinner recipes–

15-Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta                               Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto

Using those two as my inspiration, I came up with a modified version of the Creamy Avocado Sauce and made it into a Barley risotto!

I cooked the pearled barley a couple days ago (when I intended to make this dish), but then I got sick so it had to wait. This dish came together in under 10 minutes when using pre-cooked barley! That made me even happier.

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Creamy Avocado Barley Risotto

Adapted from 15-Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta & Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked pearled barley
• 2 small avocados, divided
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice + lemon zest to garnish
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp water, or more as needed to thin out
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3 because I wanted cold-fighting garlic power & it was quite intense!)
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the pearled barley in a medium sized pot, covered with about 3-4 cups of water, or more as needed (I didn’t measure the water I added). Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, and then simmer on low-medium heat for about 30 minutes until fluffy. Add more water if needed and watch closely. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, process 1.5 of your avocado flesh, reserving 1/2 the avocado for garnish. Add 2 tbsp water, 1 tsp oil, 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, and minced garlic cloves to taste. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary. Add your salt and pepper to taste and process again. Adjust all ingredients to taste.

3. Add your cooked + drained pearled barley back into the pot and pour on the avocado sauce. Heat on low until just heated through (you don’t want to cook it longer than a couple minutes!) Garnish with avocado slices and lemon zest and serve immediately.

Please note that this dish does not reheat well due to the avocados. Makes 3 cups.

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Already having the pearled barley cooked made this dish incredibly quick and easy. Perfect for a sick girl like me!

After processing your sauce ingredients, stir it into the cooked and drained barley.

By the way, I was also able to reduce the oil in the original recipe from 2 tablespoons to just 1 teaspoon! I simply added some water to thin it out and I was quite happy with the outcome.

Heat on low-medium only until it is just heated through. You don’t want to heat this mixture for long due to the avocado.

Serve immediately.

I loved this dish! The chewy pearled barley was fantastic and it was super creamy and filling.

DISCLAIMER: My taste buds could be wonky right now so don’t blame me if you think this dish is horrible. ;)

My brief stint of wellness soon came to an end in the early evening.

After I picked Eric up at the train station, we hit up the grocery store to stock up on some needed items for the long weekend. The grocery store was bumpin’ last night! I met a lovely blog reader named Emily and I tried not to scare her off with my raspy voice!

My ‘sickie’ loot:

= Mandarins (so good), Echinacea tea, Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat tea, Natural Choice Full of Fruit Mango popsicles (should have bought two boxes), and organic frozen strawberries for Green Monsters. I’m also drinking fresh juice every morning and gargling with salt water a few times a day. Why am I not healed yet!?

I was back to a liquid dinner last night. All I wanted was something cold. And GREEN.

And did this Green Monster ever taste like a dream. It was almost like a milkshake in consistency.

The ‘healing’ GM Ingredients: 1.25 cups almond milk, 1 large handful organic baby spinach, 1 frozen banana, 1 handful frozen strawberries, 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass wheat grass powder, 1/2 tbsp chia seeds.

I’m drooling at the thought of one for breakfast, so I think I am going to make one now. :) And then hopefully find a pharmacy that is open so I can get some more throat meds.

By the way, thank you for a great discussion in yesterday’s Lessons in Self-Love post! I love reading your comments.

You might also want to check out Mara’s auction for Pancreatic Cancer Research…I have some glo bars up for auction and there are many other fabulous things to bid on too!