Weight Watchers Barley With Butternut Squash, Apples and Onions

"This recipe comes from the Weight Watchers website but I had to share it here because it's absolutely fabulous. The combination might seem a little strange but it was an instant hit with my family and is one of my favorite dishes. The garlic and thyme blend with the sweet and savory flavors to perfection--you will not believe your mouth! You can serve this with salmon or chicken or do like I do and make it your main course!"
 
Download
photo by danakscully64 photo by danakscully64
photo by danakscully64
photo by WiGal photo by WiGal
photo by Camel_Cracker photo by Camel_Cracker
photo by Lalaloula photo by Lalaloula
photo by Lalaloula photo by Lalaloula
Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
11
Yields:
4 cups
Serves:
4
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • Bring 3 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; add barley. Cover saucepan and simmer barley until tender, about 30 to 35 minutes; drain.
  • Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add squash and cook, stirring often, until it's starting to soften--about five minutes. Add the onion and red pepper and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
  • Stir in apple, garlic, thyme, black pepper and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, until apple is almost tender, about 2 minutes; stir in broth, scraping bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Stir in cooked barley; toss over low heat to mix and coat. Remove from heat and serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.
  • *To make this vegetarian, use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. Please note that Food.com is not a WW site, and we cannot calculate the points for you; this is something you need to do with the tools that WW provided for you. WW also changes their point system every couple of years, so you'll need to use the current tools.<br/><br/>This is a nice combination of healthful foods for a cold-weather meal with a pork roast or chicken. With the right side dishes and some beans or nuts, it can be turned into a filling vegan main dish (use vegetable broth instead of chicken, of course). I did find it to be a bit bland, so I recommend seasoning liberally and using some nice tart apples.
     
  2. I really liked this. I used a little less salt & it tasted great. I used C&W frozen squash - added it right after the onions & peppers started to soften.
     
  3. I love this recipe. I made a couple of changes however. When I was sauteing the squash I added a chopped up apple chicken sausage. And at the last I added some dried cranberry. I know this changes the calories...but I didn't want it to be meatless...This combo was awesome !!
     
  4. Yummy!!! I made this for dinner today and was absolutely amazed at the superb flavour combination! The butternut, apples, peppers, onion and garlic went so well together and made for a scrumptious and satisfying meal in combination with the barley. As I had pearl barley on hand, thats what I used (reducing the liquid accordingly). This was so easy and relatively quick to throw together and the end result tastes so good, that I will certainly make it often again! THANKS SO MUCH for sharing this great recipe with us, Vraklis!
     
  5. Delicious. Really liked the addition of the thyme and I believe it would equally taste nice with rosemary. :)
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. Please note that Food.com is not a WW site, and we cannot calculate the points for you; this is something you need to do with the tools that WW provided for you. WW also changes their point system every couple of years, so you'll need to use the current tools.<br/><br/>This is a nice combination of healthful foods for a cold-weather meal with a pork roast or chicken. With the right side dishes and some beans or nuts, it can be turned into a filling vegan main dish (use vegetable broth instead of chicken, of course). I did find it to be a bit bland, so I recommend seasoning liberally and using some nice tart apples.
     
  2. I really enjoyed this, my family not so much....but what do they know! Served it with a pork roast, fresh green beans, tomato slices and cucumber. Yum! I will make this again for myself and freeze portions of it for later use. I cooked the barley in the chicken broth instead of water.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I've always loved to bake but since joining Weight Watchers in March of 2007, I've relished cooking meals as well--trying new things and adapting recipes so that they're lower in fat and include more natural ingredients. I joined the Recipezaar community b/c I love that we can share our recipes here and the nutrition information is calculated for each one. What a great idea! I live in Wichita, KS and work for the USPS Remote Encoding Center as a data conversion operator. I've been happily married for seven years and have a dog named Jessie that is as close to a daughter to me as any pet could be. I just love that girl to death! <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket">
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes