By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(90)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Mushrooms and barley are a classic combination, but brown rice is also very nice with this dish, and it cooks faster. Whichever you use, simmer the grain in abundant water and used the drained water to moisten the mushrooms and chard.
Featured in: Recipes for Health: A Grain, a Vegetable, a Skillet: Meals for Winter Nights
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings.
- 1cup barley or brown rice
- 1quart water
- Salt to taste
- 1generous bunch Swiss chard or rainbow chard
- 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon lemon- or mushroom-scented olive oil
- 1pound mushrooms, trimmed and cut in thick slices
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1teaspoon roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves
- Freshly ground pepper
- ½cup barley water
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
286 calories; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 1288 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Combine the barley or rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste, reduce the heat and simmer the barley for 1 hour, brown rice for 35 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Set a strainer over a bowl and drain the grains. Retain the cooking water.
Step
2
While the grains are cooking, stem the chard and wash thoroughly in two changes of water. Chop coarsely. If the stalks are merely thick, dice them; if they are stringy, discard them.
Step
3
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, wide skillet or wok. Add the mushrooms and chard stems, if using, and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms sear and begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chard and raise the heat to high. Cook, stirring, until the chard wilts, which shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes (you may have to add the chard in batches, depending on the size of your pan). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step
4
Once the chard has wilted, add .75 cup of the cooking water from the rice or barley. Cover and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes, or until the chard is tender. Uncover, stir and if you wish to have more sauce with the vegetables, add more cooking water from the grains and stir until it reduces to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning. Drizzle on the remaining oil and serve with the grains.
Tip
- Advance preparation: You can cook both the grains and the vegetables several hours ahead and reheat. Retain some barley water or rice water to add to the dish if desired. The cooked grains will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator, but the cooking water will keep for only a couple of days.
Ratings
4
out of 5
90
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Melissa
2nd time to make this dish. Used both oil and butter for the sauté and added chopped onions. replaced half of the cooking liquid with red wine. Sparked the dish up quite nicely. I'll likely add red pepper flakes next time.
Haudi
Made it last night. Underwhelming. Added some dried cranberries; better but still missing something to make it greater than the sum of its parts.
Mary
With some of the enhancements suggested by others ( onion, red pepper flakes, red wine, sprinkle of feta), this is a delicious weeknight meal and good way to use barley, which I normally only use in soups. Cant wait to make it again.
Mary B
I made this with barley, used chicken stock to cook the barley, added red pepper flakes and a squeeze of lemon. Still, it was-meh.
Caroline
Definitely take the others advice: a pat of butter, some acid (lemon juice in my case), and some red pepper flakes really made this come alive. We also added a little herbed olive oil to our brown rice, could take that or leave it honestly.Still not sure I’d make it again, but was a good way to use up our chard!
Becky
Crushed red pepper was a great suggestion. I grated fulvi romano cheese on top and really liked that.
bonnie
Good. Added sautéed onion. A substantial side dish. Maybe add pancetta or sausage to make it a full meal. Feta was good with it as is.
Liz
I like finishing the mushrooms and chard with a splash or two of apple cider vinegar. Gives it a nice lift!
Gen
This is a very useful and versatile dish. The very basic ingredients may seem to be 'underwhelming' but when put together they are very flavorful. Agree with Melissa that adding some butter is a nice touch. It is also a great platform upon which you can embellish. Serve it with a sausage if you are craving meat. Or first brown some tofu and peanuts to add at the end to stay vegetarian.
Zack
Made with Aleppo pepper, very tasty. Don’t forget those generous pinches of salt!
Mary
With some of the enhancements suggested by others ( onion, red pepper flakes, red wine, sprinkle of feta), this is a delicious weeknight meal and good way to use barley, which I normally only use in soups. Cant wait to make it again.
MTB
Wonderful meal! Cooked the barley in a tasty homemade vegetable broth. Added chopped onions to the sauté, along with two shakes of soy sauce and a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes. Topped each plate with a scatter of feta cheese.
Melissa
2nd time to make this dish. Used both oil and butter for the sauté and added chopped onions. replaced half of the cooking liquid with red wine. Sparked the dish up quite nicely. I'll likely add red pepper flakes next time.
Hank
This was easy to make and tasty.
Haudi
Made it last night. Underwhelming. Added some dried cranberries; better but still missing something to make it greater than the sum of its parts.
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