Slow Cooker Red Beans and Barley (Low Fat)

Submitted by Sarah_Jayne

"I found this recipe on fatfreevegan.com some time ago and wanted to put it here so all my healthy recipes are in one place. They say this is a Weight Watchers recipes and that is 4 points per serving."

 

• Ready In: 7hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 cup barley, uncooked and rinsed (use long-cooking variety, not pearled barley)
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 large celery rib, chopped
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups fat-free vegetable broth
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Place all ingredients, in order listed, in slow cooker. Do not stir.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours.
3. Stir and serve. Yields about 1 1/3 cups per serving.

Reviews

[Sassy J]

The flavor was pretty good, but as others have said, the texture was very chewy gummy and not well received at my house. Wonder if cooking on stovetop would help?

 

[kyepsen]

I really wanted to like this recipe. It smelled so good when I came home from work. BUT....it was like glue. I think cooking it 7 hours was WAY too long. If I try this again I would cook it about 4 hours and see how it is.

 

[DeeBee]

This really smelled good when I came home for lunch.. but it needs 'something'. I'm not sure what.. but it needs some flavor. I think I'll try pairing it with some sausage or kielbasa. It just lacked something. I love barley and kidney beans...but didn't care much for this dish.

 

[jessi_mcg]

This smelled great while cooking--it nearly drove DH and I crazy as we knocked around the house on Saturday afternoon :). That said, DH loved it and I was less thrilled. I think it was a texture thing for me; I am not a big fan of risotto, either, and that is about the texture this ended with. The flavor is very good, though, so I might be tempted to try the recipe again with the same ingredients but simmered on the stovetop with the barley cooked separately. Thanks for posting; I'm sure I'll tinker with this one. Made for Veg*n Swap.

 

[Enjolinfam]

This was delicious! I don't remember ever eating barley before, but had heard how healthy it was and wanted to give it a try. My family loves rice and bean recipes, and this recipe reminded us all of rice and beans except I think we liked the barley even better! I followed Dreamer's suggestion to use diced tomatoes and only used a 15 ounce can. That amount turned out perfect for us. I also used some cut up bok choi instead of celery, because I hadn't realized my celery had gone bad and I wanted to replace it with something. Turned out great and I know I'll cook it again as I'm always needing great crock pot recipes! Thanks! Made for 1-2-3 Zaar Tag.