Barley is a great addition to your diet, in this recipe the barley replaces the traditional Arborio rice. The leeks give the whole concoction a nice twist. If you peel the shrimps yourself, leave the tail on for a nice presentation. The prawn heads are about better than the tails, coat them with some corn starch mixed with a pinch of turmeric powder and deep fry crisp and crunchy
Barley is a great addition to your diet, in this recipe the barley replaces the traditional Arborio rice. The leeks give the whole concoction a nice twist. If you peel the shrimps yourself, leave the tail on for a nice presentation.
The prawn heads are about better than the tails, coat them with some corn starch mixed with a pinch of turmeric powder and deep fry crisp and crunchy
Ingredients
- For the shrimps:
- 800 gr Medium size shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 3 tsp fresh thyme, (chopped), plus a bit more for garnish
- Sea salt and pepper
- For the barley:
- 1 ½ cup pearl barley
- ½ large onion, (cut dice size)
- 1 clove garlic, (minced)
- 500 gr leeks
- 700 ml low fat chicken stock
- 1½ tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 150 gr grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- 1Wash the barley and soak for 2 to 3 hours in about double the amount of water than the barley.
- 2Cut the leeks lengthwise and then in half circle shape pieces of 1 ½ cm.
- 3Melt the butter in a stockpot with the oil. Add the onions and garlic, fry on low to medium heat for 2 minutes until the onions soften.
- 4Add leeks, mix well. Cook on low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt.
- 5Drain the barley and add to the leeks. Mix well so all ingredients are well coated with butter and oil.
- 6Add 1/3 of the stock and bring to a soft boil. Leave to simmer, stirring regularly until the stock gets absorbed. Add more stock when that happens. Keep on stirring and adding stock regularly until all the stock has been absorbed. At this stage add the cheese and mix through. Remove from the heat and keep warm. This process takes about 20 minutes
- 7The barley should be cooked but still a have some bite to it.
- 8Ensure the shrimps are deveined and the shells are removed. By deveined shrimps the dorsal vein that runs along the back of a shrimp has been removed. You can see this by noticing an incision on the back of the shrimp. If the shrimps are not deveined, do so by making an incision along the back of the shrimp and remove the dorsal vein.
- 9Season the shrimps with salt, pepper and chopped thyme.
- 10Pan Fry the shrimp in a greased non –stick pan on high heat. This will take about 1 minute. Do not over -cook or the shrimps will become rubbery.
- 11Assemble by placing some barley and leek mix first and top with the shrimps.
Garnish with a sprig of thyme. - 12Nutritional Value per serving:
Calories: 537
Fat Total: 13.5 g
Fat Saturated: 7.3 g
Carbohydrates: 70.0 g
Sugars: 3.0 g
Protein: 38.0 g
Dietary Fibers: 16.6 g
