This week I will be featuring some recipes from the cookbook, “Cooking Light 350-Calorie Eat Smart Guide: 90 Fresh, Quick, and Easy dishes” with minor adaptations to each recipe. I tried to stretch myself a little this week. I wanted to experiment more with the Italian turkey sausage that we used in the lasagna soup a couple of weeks ago (that was really good) so you will see Italian turkey sausage in two of the recipes this week. You can use hot or sweet Italian sausage, according to your taste. This week you can look forward to some steak (which I shared yesterday), shrimp, soup, salad, and Panini recipes, so you will want to keep coming back for those recipes.

Each of the two recipes this week that include Italian turkey sausage call for just 8-10 ounces of sausage but the packages I found in the store were 19 ounces, so I went ahead and cooked the 19 ounces package and refrigerated half for the sausage and spinach soup recipe I will be sharing tomorrow. (this is also why we are doing two recipes that include the sausage, so you aren’t wasting it)

This barley sausage skillet recipe was different than most recipes I share on here, but the fiber from the barley, protein from the sausage, and nutrients from the vegetables made me want to give it a try. It has a unique flavor to it that I was had a hard time describing. Something about the taste reminded me a little of a place around where I live called Barada Kabob, which is a small, very well-liked Mediterranean restaurant. Maybe it was the spices from the sausage. I’m not sure. I almost didn’t share this recipe, though, because it was so different and I thought people might not like it, but my husband encouraged me to share it, reminding me that we all have different tastes and others of you may want to branch out and try something a little different too.

If you do try this recipe please feel free to drop us a comment and let us know what you think of it. We would love to hear from you.

Here is what you need:

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup quick-cooking barley
Cooking spray
8 ounces sweet of hot turkey Italian sausage
1 tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
½  cup chopped red bell pepper
1 (8-ounce) package pre-sliced mushrooms
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
2 tbsp. Marsala cooking wine, or chicken broth
1 tsp. dried basil, or 1 tbsp. fresh basil
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Here is what you do:

1. Place broth in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Add barley to pan.
   
   Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings form sausage. Add sausage to the pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring to crumble. Transfer to a bowl. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes.
   
   Add garlic; sauté 1 minutes.
   
   Return sausage to the pan.
   
   Stir in Marsala cooking wine, basil, and black pepper; sauté 2 minutes.
   
   Add barley; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.
   Makes 4 (1-1/4 cup) servings