Stuffed Bell Peppers make for a great barley/gluten-free dinner!  I am not giving you a recipe (partly because I like to change things up and expect you would like your own variation and portions anyways). But here is how it works:

Stage one:

Cook up a pound of ground beef (I usually use 90/10 some fat= flavor) and spice it up with crushed-red peppers, minced garlic, salt and pepper.

When the ground beef needs about 5 minutes more add coarsely chopped onions adding texture and flavor.

At the same time:

Boil a combo. of vegetable stock and water (2/3 stock 1/3 water). When the mixture is boiling put in the Brown Minute Rice. After lowering the heat add some minced garlic, and let it simmer so that the flavor seeps in (risotto style).

Stage two:

Clean out the peppers (kind of like pumpkin gutting.) I usually leave some of the seeds (again for texture). Try to pick peppers that have a sturdy and wide bottom so they can stand on their own.

Stage three:

Then it’s time to mix the rice, and onion/beef mixture into a bowl and season (again). This time I usually add a little more red pepper, garlic, and oregano. The great thing about this meal versus meatloaf is that it’s all cooked before it goes in the oven. So you can taste-test your filling to see what savory seasoning you want!

Stage four:

Next is stuffing the peppers. How much of the rice/beef mixture you have and how big your peppers are determine how many stuffed peppers you get. If you have any stuffing leftover: just get a spoon out and you have a pre-dinner snack!

Stage five

Stick the peppers in the oven for 30 min. at 350. With 10 minutes left pull the peppers out and put a little parmesan and mozzarella on top. Then they quickly are back in the oven.

And . .  .

I can only eat one Luke will eat at least two and debate whether to leave the next (if there are more) for lunch the next day.

Not only is this gluten/barley free but it can also be vegetarian! Just replace the ground beef with diced mushrooms and/or lentils!

Or if you want a more Italian variety throw in some zucchini and Italian seasoning into the mixture and top it off with some tomato sauce .

If you want a different carb. how about quinoa, or polenta?

The variations are limitless.