12 pearl recipes

Sweet butternut squash is cooked with pearl barley, fresh lemon zest and lemon juice, tossed with cilantro or parsley. Serve it as a tasty side dish or a delicious and wholesome main course.

Minnie Pearls are no-bake pink cookie bars loaded with coconut, almonds, and graham crumbs, bound with butter and powdered sugar and tinted rosy. Just mix, chill, and cut, no oven required.

Pork meatballs with shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, and ginger, rolled in soaked rice and steamed until the grains turn translucent. A classic Chinese dim sum appetizer that's as fun to make as it is to eat.

Pearls and chocolate cookies are chewy dark chocolate drop cookies loaded with white chocolate chips (the pearls). A reverse-palette chocolate chip cookie, ready in 20 minutes.

Glazed pearl onions caramelized with sugar, braised in beef stock, and finished with a splash of red wine vinegar. A sweet-and-tangy side dish using frozen pearl onions.

What makes this appetizer stand out are the grains of glutinous rice (also called sweet or sticky rice), which turn a pearly color when cooked.

Roast pork loin with Marsala-steeped dried figs, butter-glossed pearl onions and honey mustard on the side. A rustic, wine-braised dinner-party centerpiece.

Braised fennel stew with caramelized pearl onions and carrots simmered in chicken broth. A French-inspired vegetable side with anise-sweet fennel, browned butter, and natural sugars.

Traditional Hungarian cream of pearl barley soup made with pork and veal broth, a light roux, and finished with egg yolk and cream. Velvety and soul-warming.

Beef and pork meat loaf loaded with melty mozzarella, Parmesan, and sautéed red peppers. Herb-seasoned with basil and thyme, glazed with ketchup, and ready in under an hour.

Potato omelette with sliced boiled potatoes, sauteed onions, and beaten eggs cooked together in a skillet until firm. A hearty, old-school breakfast with just five simple ingredients.

Double-crust pear and cranberry pie with a cranberry juice glaze drizzled on top. Tart cranberries balance sweet pears in a cornstarch-thickened filling.