A delicious and healthy combination of barley and mushrooms makes for a popular and attractive salad for party guests. a healthy combination of barley and mushrooms that makes a popular and attractive party mushroom salad.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup pearl barley
- 2 cups water
- 2-3 stems fresh herbs (thyme or rosemary) (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4-5 shitake mushrooms
- 4-5 oyster mushrooms
- 5-6 fresh button mushrooms
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 shallots, finely chopped
- freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions:
- If using dried mushrooms, soak for 2-3 hours until soft.
- Wash barley and put in a saucepan. Add 2 cups water, salt, herbs on stem, and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer, cover pan, and cook for 35-40 minutes until soft. Stir occasionally. Strain if there is excess liquid, remove herb stems if used, and keep barley aside.
- In the meanwhile, thinly slice mushrooms. Mince shallots and garlic.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add garlic and shallots. When shallots become translucent (about 2 minutes), add mushrooms to pan. Saute for about 2-3 minutes until button mushrooms are cooked. Add ¼ cup wine, and freshly ground black pepper. Allow mushrooms to cook in wine for about 2 minutes, then turn off heat if barley is not ready.
- Add cooked barley to the mushroom pan on low heat. Stir and allow liquid to be absorbed while stirring for 2-3 minutes. Remove barley mushroom mixture to serving bowl.
- Combine dressing ingredients. Pour dressing onto salad, add parsley and mix well. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, so flavors are absorbed. Check seasonings. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Critical Ingredients:
Any kind of mushroom can be used for this salad. If you don’t have a variety, even just plain button mushrooms work in this salad. One medium-sized onion can substitute for shallots. If you don’t have wine handy, skip it and add 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar to the dressing for flavor. I like to use whatever herbs I have on hand to add flavor to the barley, but even bay leaves work well. This is an example.
