Name: Barley-Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients: 3/4 cup uncooked barley, or 2 cups cooked barley or other grain; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms; Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper; freshly cracked black pepper; 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1 cup small-diced fresh mozzarella; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; 1 yellow bell pepper, halved lengthwise and seeded; 1 red bell pepper, halved lengthwise and seeded; 1 cup bread crumbs

Photo by David Malosh

This is an almost perfect dish for the home cook because it's economical, healthy, and scrumptious! You can whip it up anytime you have leftover cooked barley, brown rice, or quinoa from the night before. You could even reinvigorate a container of rice from last night's Chinese or Indian takeout! For a carnivore's take on this dish, add a cup of browned ground meat in place of 1 cup of the cooked barley or other grain.

Cooks' Notes

It's important to let the mushrooms sear in this recipe. This is an old-school chef's secret—leaving mushrooms alone in an uncrowded pan over high heat ensures that they sear rather than steam, and you end up with the most delicious mushrooms ever as opposed to sad, bland, spongy, soggy, greasy mushrooms.

Before adding any further seasoning to the mix, grab a spoon and taste! This is a very important step in cooking—tasting before seasoning—especially here, with two types of cheese involved, since cheese always lends saltiness to a dish. If you think it tastes great, then that's perfect-stop there. You're the chef and you're in control, so trust your own palate when it comes to seasoning.

For added cheesy extravagance, you can also top each baked pepper with more cheese and place them back in the oven for 2 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and oozy.

The typical ratio for cooking barley is 1 part barley to 3 parts water or stock, but it's different for quick-cooking barley, so read the package.