Brown Rice and Barley Pilaf

I'm always experimenting with my cooking, trying new recipes, and especially trying to make meals inexpensive and healthy at the same time.  I also like to make things that use our food storage.  That way, when we need/have to use these shelf-stable foods I know how to use them, and the family will be more likely to eat them without complaining.

Roasted chicken was on our menu this week, and I wanted to make rice to go with it.  I buy brown rice in a 25 pound bag and work my through it, usually having rice once a week for dinner and breakfast.  This time I wanted to make a pilaf, and I wanted more than just the rice texture, so I decided to add some pearl barley to it to mix it up a bit.  We were happy with the mixture, and as you can see it made a large batch of pilaf, probably 10-12 servings, so to the leftovers I added a can of diced tomatoes, some corn sauteed with chili powder, green chilis and some salsa to make Spanish rice that we ate with the chicken enchiladas.  That was good, too!  And still "shelf-stable" since I added canned ingredients.  ;)

Food storage cooking:

Brown Rice and Barley Pilaf

6 cups water or chicken stock
2 cups brown rice
3/4 cup pearl barley
2 T. dried carrots
1 T. dried celery
1 T. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried onions
1/2 tsp. dried garlic
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Cracked pepper to taste
1/2 T. dried chives

Bring the water/stock (or mixture of the two) to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add the other ingredients except for the cracked pepper and dried chives.  Bring back up to a boil, turn to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes.  Fluff with a for and garnish with the pepper and dried chives

Note:  I didn't add any fat in the form of oil or butter because I wanted this to be made from just the dried ingredients and it turned out just fine.  I also used plain water and added a teaspoon of dried, no-msg chicken soup base.  You can also "brown" the dry rice in some butter or olive in a pan before adding the liquid and other ingredients, but I kept it simple and skipped that step.

I love the Thrive dehydrated veggies from Shelf Reliance.  A little goes a long way!  I linked to my sister's website here, but I am NOT compensated for it at all, I just really love the products.

I'm Linking Here:  Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam