Mushroom Barley Salad

Dear readers,
     You may have noticed that some time has passed since the last post...and that some time had passed before that one. I can explain. You see, I was a first year teacher and let me tell you, the end of the school year is nuts. I kept thinking that I would get around to making something, maybe alfajores, but no such luck. Since my bff and co-blogger Amber has been busy at work--and away on her honeymoon!--things have been too quiet around here. Sorry for that! I'm planning to get back on track this summer.
      Let the cooking begin!
Love, Alexis

Sorry about photo quality--I had to resort to using my iPhone.

     I started getting The Food Network Magazine a few months ago, because Amber gave me a gift subscription for Christmas. (Thanks!!) The magazine is entertaining to read and always features very approachable recipes. I LOVE Saveur, but I don't usually end up make too many of its recipes. The TNW, on the other hand, has tons of practical weekday meals as well as more ambitious weekend projects. I had yet to make a FNW recipe, which I felt was completely unacceptable.
    When the new issue arrived a couple of days ago I dug around for something simple to ease my way back into the kitchen. I decided on a mushroom barley salad recipe. Mushrooms? Barley? Always a happy couple!
     The original recipe was a side dish, but I tweaked it and re-imagined it as a main. If you are good at planning ahead, soak your barley over night in to shorten the cooking time. Conversely, I cooked my barley earlier in the day, then warmed it up and mixed in the other ingredients at dinnertime. The lemon I used was huge, so the "juice from one lemon" was slightly overpowering. Other than that, this recipe is simple and satisfying. It can be served hot or cold. I considered adding garlic when sauteeing the veggies, but decided to stay closer to the original with this version. If you feel adventurous and want to try the garlic, let me know how it goes.

Mushroom and Barley Salad

~Print Recipe~

• 1 cup barley
• 2 1/2 cups broth
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, separated
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 small carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 4 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 20 or so shrimp (we used pre-cooked)
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• Juice from one lemon (small or medium-sized, not too large)
• 2 teaspoons whole-grain or dijon mustard   (or more to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot. Stir in barley and cook for 15 minutes (for pre-soaked barley) or 35-40 minutes (for unsoaked).
2. Meanwhile, heat a large pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Sautee about 5 minutes, then stir in mushrooms. Continue cooking until mushrooms are almost cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Stir in shrimp, cooking for 1-2 minutes. Then add spinach and continue stirring just until spinach starts to wilt, 1-2 minutes.
3. In large bowl, whisk lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the barley mixture and toss. Adjust seasoning as needed. Can be served hot or cold (though be aware of food safety issues if serving cold).

Serves 4

Mushroom Barley Soup

Molly Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook and my childhood are inseparable. My mom religiously cooked its vegetarian recipes--in fact I don't remember her ever cooking from any other cookbook. She had some recipe cards, for sure, but as far as I know the Moosewood was the only book.

And you can tell from looking at the copy I inherited it that it has been lovingly used for the past 35 years. The title page contains page numbers of favorite recipes, there are notes in the margins and--the best indication of a cookbook's worth--stained pages from years of use. If those stains are any indication, the soup section of Katzen's book is the best. In my mother's house at least, they were the most often used. I grew up eating lentil soup and Hungarian mushroom soup. I would ask for the white bean and black olive soup as my special birthday meal.

The Moosewood mushroom barley soup is as simple as it is delicious. It is very savory and it lets the flavor of the mushrooms really come through. Barley is an under-utilized grain. It is inexpensive to buy in bulk, it cooks easily like rice, and adds a distinct flavor and depth.

For how delicious this soup is, the recipe is surprisingly easy and not at all labor intensive. It does take around an hour to cook, but most of the time it is simmering and does not require you to slave over it. The ingredient list is shorter than many (less flavorful) soups and therefore prep-time is minimal.

We had this soup on a cold mid-winter night with a glass of red wine (thank you, Libby!) and hunks of crusty La Brea sourdough bread. It was, in Starbucks speak, "a perfect pairing," and one I would highly recommend. I have a feeling my future kids will be as familiar with the Moosewood Cookbook as I was.

Mushroom Barley Soup

~Print Recipe~

• 1/2 cup raw pearled barley
• 6 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, vegetable stock (or water)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 or 4 tablespoons tamari (a type of soy sauce)
• 3 or 4 tablespoons dry sherry
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 heaping cup chopped onion
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a soup pot, bring 1 1/2 cups of stock to a boil. Stir in barley, cover with a lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer until barley is tender, about 35 minutes. (Note: If you soak the barley over night in a cup of water or stock, you can reduce cooking time to around 15 minutes.)
2. Add the remaining stock, tamari and sherry.
3. Saute the onions and garlic in butter over medium heat. When they soften, add mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon salt. When all is tender, add to the barley--making sure to include all of the liquid in the pan.
4. Generously sprinkle with black pepper and simmer for 20 minutes, covered, over the lowest possible heat. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve hot.

Serves 6

Lentil, Barley and Sausage Soup

Lentil and Barley Soup with Sausage

It's turning out to be quite a nice fall here in Portland, Oregon. (Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon.) For at least the last week, we've had gorgeous, crisp cool sunny days. Perfect fall weather if you ask me. The forecast for this week indicates we'll get more of the same. I certainly hope we do. It's my favorite time of year.

While I still can't believe it is already mid-October, I am definitely beginning to get excited about all the wonderful things that fall entails. Leaves are changing, temperatures are dropping, pumpkins are out on porches. One of the things I'm looking forward to is making soup. There is something so essential and satisfying about a good soup! And the truly fantastic thing about soups is they are so easy to make. They are so malleable. Be creative, get crazy---design a soup as you go. It is only recently that I realized that one really doesn't need a recipe for a soup, just a basic idea and whatever contents of your fridge and pantry that you are craving.

Soup after a long day at work.

That being said, I'm posting this soup recipe. I came up with this recipe by combining and tweaking a couple of recipes I've clipped from food magazines. I will always, always associate lentil soup with my mother. Lucky for me, she made fantastic lentil (and many, many other kinds of) soup. But, this version is a bit different than hers. It's a lentil soup with barley, and like any good lentil soup it is very hearty. It begs for a good chunk of crusty bread and a cold night. A little wine certainly doesn't hurt.

One of the best thing about soups, too, is that they just get better with time. Make a large batch and savor the left-overs for lunch the next day or freeze some to enjoy later.

Let the soup season commence!

Lentil and Barley Soup with Sausage

~Print Recipe~

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, separated (or more to taste)
• 2 sausage links, cut into small pieces
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 cup carrots (or more), chopped
• 1 cup celery (or more), chopped
• 2 red potatoes, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dill
  
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• OR since I discovered I was out of Italian seasoning, I substituted the following:
• 1/2 teaspoon each of oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary (or more to taste)
• 2 to 3 courts low-sodium chicken stock (or water)
• 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 2 cups uncooked lentils
• 2 tablespoons dry red wine (optional)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (optional)
• Fresh cracked pepper and grated cheese to garnish

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high in a Dutch oven or large soup pot. Add the sausage and cook until browned. Drain the sausage and remove from pot, set aside.  Add remaining oil and chopped leek. Stir to coat. 
2. As the leek is sauteing, chop and stir in the onion. Chopping and adding as you go, add all the ingredients through the potatoes, continuing to stir frequently. Add the spices. Cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are softened and the onion is translucent.
3. Add the barley and stir to incorporate. Add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Stir in lentils. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, or until lentils are soft and vegetables are cooked through.
5. Add the cooked sausage (and optional ingredients, if using) and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the sausage is warmed and flavors have mingled. Adjust spices as necessary.
6. Top individual servings of soup with more fresh cracked pepper and grated cheese of your choice. Serve with crusty bread.