Upon re-activating my Costco membership last Friday, I was so excited {yes, EXCITED- I hadn’t been there since September} to make a b-line to the “grain aisle”, but was thoroughly disappointed to find that my trek to acquire the highly sought after Quinoa had come to an end. To my surprise, they didn’t have it anywhere in their store {not even a spot where it would have been!}, but knowing Costco, I was sure that they had something else new to try in the same family.
Surely, I was correct. I stumbled upon this little gem called Pearled Barley…
Looked similar to Quinoa, and surprisingly, it even has compatible stats to the latter. It has 4 more grams of Dietary Fiber, which among other wonderful things, balances the Intestinal PH, and in turn, may help prevent cancer {however, Quinoa is gluten free, and Pearled Barley is not}.
I’m only getting started with this unforeseen treasure, but I plan on experimenting with it quite often. The other night, I cooked it as the directions called, added a can of Rotel diced tomatoes, a can of black beans, and poured the jumble over some taco-seasoned, baked chicken. Needless to say, it was DELISH.
Here are the tit-for-tat stats between Quinoa and Pearl Barley:
Calories:
Quinoa: 170; Pearl Barley: 180
Total Fat:
Q: 1G; PB: 2.5G
Dietary Fibers:
Q: 4G; PB: 8G
Sugars:
Q: 1G; PB: 0G
Protein:
Q: 5G; PB: 5G
SavannahSays 