I’m one of those people who has mysteriously developed a wheat intolerance with age and can no longer eat many “normal” foods. I love barley and buy a lot of it, but pearled barley takes about 45 minutes to cook. Sometimes I hit the kitchen and I need something fast, something that feels substantial and yet comforting.

Dari Barley Couscous, from box to plate, takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. (NOTE: Ignore the package directions for amount of water, salt, and oil. Use twice as much water as couscous. Boil water, pour over couscous, let sit for 4 minutes. Fluff with fork, microwave 2 minutes, done. Add butter or oil, salt, pepper, cheese, whatever, after it’s finished.)

I’ve been making a luscious gluten-free, low-glycemic Greek-style salad with it – barley couscous, grilled chicken breast, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, lemon juice/olive oil/oregano dressing. One batch of it makes about five or six great summer meals. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week… if it lasts that long.

Please get this back in stock, Amazon! I’m down to my last four boxes!

When I opened the first of 6 boxes I could immediately smell a rancid odor. After it sat in the open air for a while I could hardly detect an odor, so I went ahead and tried it in a recipe. I could definitely detect the rancid flavor in the finished dish. Yuck. I have ordered this product from Amazon before with no problems, so I wasn’t that concerned that it is a non-returnable item. Now I’m out the $ and have six boxes of rancid couscous. Note: these were about half-way between their production and expiration dates–not super fresh, but well within their usability dates.