FFwD: Lemon Barley Pilaf

I know I'm one of many who made this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe last week, to complement the salmon. I had no idea what to expect out of Lemon Barley Pilaf. I don't remember ever having barley, except for the one time I tried my dad's beef and barley soup. My hatred for the soup stemmed from my hatred for stewed beef. I barely touched it, and the barley made no impression on me.

I was confused by this recipe, because I thought that pilaf had to involve rice. There is no rice in this dish. The dictionary I looked in defined pilaf as a rice dish that is cooked in broth (is that all??), so if the broth is the only difference, then yes, I guess this qualifies as barley pilaf.

This needs some greenery. Bring on a zucchini!

I boosted the amount of vegetables called for in this recipe. It's a pet peeve of mine when a recipe calls for a half of a red pepper. Why not a whole red pepper? Why do I have to wrap up the remainder and forget about it in my fridge? These days, I automatically use the whole thing, no matter how much the recipe calls for. I also added extra carrots to this.

The premise of this dish is promising. It easily could have hosted even more vegetables. I loved the chewy little nubbins of barley. I could kick myself for never trying it before. It doesn't taste like anything, and it's just a nice texture. The dish lacked flavor, though. I couldn't tell there was any lemon zest in there, and I used twice as much as called for. If lemon is part of the title, I want to taste the lemon! Fresh herbs would improve things, too. It was good, but it could have been better. I'll make this again, with much tweaking.