I bought some chickpeas and some pearl barley...

[Eyeballsinthesky]

...I don't know why, they just jumped into my basket. So what do I do with them? I do like my slow cooker so can I just add them and do I have to cook them first?

Ta

Pearl barly takes about an hour normally- can add it to slow cooker.

Not sure about chick peas if they're dried- usually have to oak them overnight and then cook for an hour, after boiling for 10 mins (as I recall, I'm lazy and just buy tinned these days)

Oak them overnight?! i mean soak of course...

They look like oak...

You can make risotto using pearl barley, but it needs to cook for about an extra 40 mins when most of the liquid has been absorbed - very nice

Oh my goodness I think I'll take them back. I thought I could chuck them in a stew to bulk it out and I only picked those because I'd heard of them!

Threw away some pearl barley that was 2 years off.
Keep meaning to add it to stews and chicken soups.

I make hoummous with chick peas.

i add chickpeas to everything ... casseroles, spag bol, shepherds pie, stews ... yum (i have a friend who hates chickpeas, but blends them and puts them in spag bol for nutrients for kids).

Are they chickpeas in a tin? If so then just sling them into anything. Soup, stew etc. My favourite is to add them to a curry, I do a cauliflower and chickpea veg curry that we have alongside a meat one or on it's own. Yummy.

Nope, they are evil looking wizened little beans. I guess that means I should throw them in the garden for the birds and buy a tin!

Just add the pearl barley to a stew that you are making in the slow cooker or in the oven. I norally put the slow cooker on for 8 hours+ and chuck everything in at the start raw with some stock and a tin of tomatoes.

The chickpeas can be made into a curry or throw them in the stew aswell (after you have done whatever it says on the packet first - unless they are tinned then just lob them in)

Dried chickpeas ARE 'evil looking wizened little beans' as you so delightfully put it!!

You have to soak the bleeders overnight . Tinned chick peas are good.

Have you decided what you're going to do with 'em yet?

Eyeballs the birds won't even look at them! If you want to use them up then use them in a soup or something where the cooking liquid is part of the recipe. It can be very tasty. But I always use tinned

You need to soak the chickpeas overnight.

Then they need cooking. They take a while so I tend to do them in a pressure cooker for about half an hour. You could just boil them though.

Once cooked you can add them to things. If you make hoummous it will be much nicer than with tinned chick peas, nice and nutty and creamy.

I sometimes make spicy chickpeas with a spicy tomato sauce and plenty of onion, nice served with rice or couscous.

Pearl barley can just be lobbed in soups and stews at the beginning of cooking. Very nice in chicken and veg soup.

Come on woman, make something nice with them, don't be defeated by a chickpea.

chickpea stuff with links to recipes

Ooh thank you. My chickpeas don't look all plump and shiny like that. I guess that's what overnight in a bucket of water does for you...

Right, I am going to make something chickpea-y if it kills me. Will peruse the chickpea stuff.

Barley sounds easily more useful. I'll chuck it in the slow cooker with everything else next time.

Now, chickpeas...

Thank you everyone for your chickpea thoughts thus far. I'm coming round to them

Chickened out from chickpeas
backed away from black-eye beans
perilous thing, pearl barley

I echo Beachcomber- don't be defeated by a chickpea!