One for the Crock Pot

I need a break from gnawing on Christmas chocolates! This recipe though vegetarian is also pretty stout. I like using underutilized vegetables just to see what they can do. Here, three ingredients, barley, leeks and kale, fit into the underutilized category. Barley is high fiber, kale is a healthy dark leaf green and leeks are in the same healthy family that includes garlic. My uncle grew barley and one year I helped him harvest it. Barley was one of the first grains to be cultivated and was a staple in the ancient armies of Greece and Rome. Italians sometimes use it as a substitute for the rice in a risotto, calling it instead an orzotto.

Vegetarian Barley Stew

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

1-1/2 cups of chopped leeks (about two small stalks, white and pale
green parts only)

1 8-ounce container of sliced baby bella mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice

1 cup pearl barley

4 cups vegetable broth

1 bunch kale (about 8 ounces) trimmed, center stalks removed, leaves
coarsely chopped (about 8 cups packed)

Preparations:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add leeks and sprinkle with salt and pepper, saute until leeks begin to soften. Stir often, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic and rosemary. Increase heat to medium high and saute until mushrooms soften and begin to brown. Stir often, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, stir one minute. Add barley and 4 cups broth, bring to boil. At this point, I transfer to the crock pot where it simmers until the barley is almost tender, about 25 minutes. Add kale, stir until wilted about 1 minute, recover and simmer until kale and barley are tender. Depending on what stew consistency you'd like, you may want to add more broth. Simmer about 40 minutes.

Additional Preparation:
When serving, cool slightly, then add two or three of drops each of Tabasco sauce and white truffle infused olive oil.

Comments:
The additional preparation saved this recipe. Without that save, for me, the recipe lacked depth. Kale might be wildly healthy, but it also tasted flat and I had no fondness for its texture either (slightly rough). Once refrigerated overnight, the kale did relax. Served for breakfast, the recipe did just fine. Much of the recipe idea came from the magazine, "bon apetit".

Tabasco sauce and my new acquisition, white truffle infused olive oil, are my two very best recipe rescuers. Recently, one of the food magazines listed Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce as their choice for ingredient of the year. It's a widely available asian chili sauce and your grocer probably carries it. I'm pretty sure this ingredient is being used as a recipe rescuer too. Tabasco Sauce and Sriracha typically sell for under 5 dollars. The white truffle infused olive oil set me back about 40 dollars, fortunately, a little bit goes a long ways

I'd like to know what other people consider to be their very best recipe rescuers!