A friend found this recipe for me, knowing how much I adore risotto. I'll copy the recipe as it appeared, and then give my changes and thoughts afterwards.
From: http://recipes.health.com/recipes/10...barley-risotto
* 3 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 cups chopped zucchini
* 2 cups chopped onion
* 1 cup lightly pearled barley
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
* 1 teaspoon butter
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
1. Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan; keep warm.
2. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add barley; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring frequently. Stir in 1/2 cup broth and salt. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes). Add shrimp; cook 4 minutes. Stir in cheese, butter, and pepper.
Since I'm doing WW online, I used the recipe builder to calculate the points. Also, instead of trying to figure out if I'm accurate in what is considered a cup of such and such, I weigh in ounces or grams since you can edit that in the recipe builder for a more accurate points calc.
This ended up being my weights and ingredients:
3.5 cups of broth + half cup water
1 medium yellow onion
8 oz raw shrimp
2 oz freshly grated parmesan (it's got a gorgeous nutty flavor that the Kraft stuff lacks)
10 oz zucchini
5 oz cremini mushrooms
2 tsp safflower oil
145 gram pearled barley
This ended up making 4 servings which are about 9 ounces per serving, and 6 points per serving.
Changes:
1. For some reason, I have better results in caramelizing onions if I use yellow onions, and do it in the oven in a roaster. I realized this bc I add yellow onion to the roaster when I roast chicken and they brown up and get yummy n sweet. So I tossed a whole sliced up medium yellow onion with 1.5 tsp of safflower oil and some kosher salt, turned the over to 400 for maybe 25 minutes.
2. The recipe says to saute the onion and zucchini first, which I obvs went a diff route for the onion.....but the zucchini didn't fare well being in the mix the whole time, it was too mushy and overdone. I sauteed the zucchini in another 1/2 tsp of oil, but I'd suggest sauteeing it for about 5 mins to get it started and taking it out until the barley is half cooked.
3. I added in mushrooms with the zucchini to sautee. They can simmer in the risotto while it's cooking, as can the cooked onion, it adds to the flavor.
4. I don't know how much salt I used, I never measure that, it's just a pinch here and there of kosher till it tastes good *shrugs*
5. the next time, i'd probably decrease the barley amount by about 25 grams and add in another ounce or two of shrimp.
6. for mine, I actually ended up forgetting about the butter and didn't miss it.
To me, 9 ounces is a small serving (unless you pare this with a small low-points salad I guess) so I gave us each 1.5 portions which ended up still only being 9 points and quite filling. And I now have a single serving leftover for lunch some day this week.
