Barley is a cereal whole grain. Including whole grains in your diet provides fiber. Regularly including whole grains in your diet may help decrease cholesterol and regulate your blood sugar.1 This recipe uses quick-cooking pearl barley. Pearl barley has removed the indigestible outer husk and bran layer. It is lighter in color and cooks quicker than hulled barley. If you want to use hulled barley in this recipe you will need to cook it for one hour compared to 10-20 minutes.