Baked Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash

This week has been so busy.  This was the first night we actually cooked dinner since Sunday. The other days were filled with easy salads and sandwiches and last night we had family in town and enjoyed a wonderful dinner out.

Tonight we decided to make Baked Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash which was in a recent issue of Real Simple.

This was incredibly easy to make and the result was rich and creamy. After it bakes, you stir in some butter, Parmesan cheese and spinach. Unlike the picture in the recipe, just stirring it up mashed up our squash but it still tasted wonderful.

Orange Beef and Barley Stew

Tonight we made Orange Beef and Barley Stew which is an old Good Housekeeping recipe that my mom used to make when I was a kid.

This took about two and a half hours total and it was so easy. We ended up using baby carrots and halving them.  The orange flavor is very subtle and it’s a very thick and hearty stew. It’s made the house smell delicious.

Beef and Barley Soup

Tonight we made Beef and Barley Soup from the October issue of Martha Stewart Living.  It turned out excellent and the broth was so flavorful.

I was a little nervous because it says it takes four hours and we didn’t start it until later in the afternoon.  I think ours took closer to three hours but I didn’t skimp on any of the steps.

Our broth doesn’t look like the picture but it was still great. The London broil turned out so tender.  Next time I might add more carrots and we forgot to add parsley at the end. We were just too ready to eat it and it was pretty perfect.