VEGAN Recipe: Simple Black Beans and Barley with Winter Squash

I'd like to start sharing lots of beautiful vegan recipes. Hope you enjoy!
SIMPLE BLACK BEANS AND BARLEY WITH WINTER SQUASH

winter squash of choice~ here we used spaghetti squash, but butternut or acorn, or any others for that matter, are perfect

dry pearled barley

dry black beans

1 onion, size of choice
vegan broth or boullion or concentrate

grapeseed or safflower oil, or other non-gmo, high-heat oil

oil of choice for drizzling
sea salt

The method: I put dried black beans in a crockpot to simmer all day, about 12 hours, or you can do them overnight. With them I added plenty of water (at least 3 times the amount of beans), dash of salt and splash of real maple syrup, but blackstrap molasses is wonderful too. I coursely chopped an onion and tossed that in midway through.

For the barley, I threw it in a rice cooker with 2.5 times as much water as barley. You can use vegetable broth or add some concentrate such as Better Then Boullion's vegetable base. It can be started around the same time as the squash.

I used grapeseed oil on a baking sheet and on 375 degrees F let a lovely spaghetti squash bake. It was seeded and place shell side up. It took about 55 minutes or so to cook.

I tend to love simplicity, a good sprinkle of sea salt, a drizzle of grapeseed oil and voila! But you can actually change this dramatically with your choice of herbs and spices. Cumin and chili powder with the beans or thyme and a tiny touch of nutmeg with the barley make a very different dish!