If I say barley, you probably say mushroom. I love mushroom barley soup, and I make a damn good one . But barley, an ancient whole grain, has applications far beyond mushroom barley soup. I’ve been on a bit of a barley binge lately, riffing on it with different spices, different vegetables. This recipe for barley stew with spring vegetables celebrates the season and is a nourishing, luscious way to enjoy Whole Grain Sampling Day.
How to Make Smoky Barley Stew with Spring Vegetables
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pour barley into a bowl. Cover with cool water and set aside.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.
- Spread onion, pepper, carrots on the baking sheet. Don’t crowd the vegetable.
- Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, scatter half the chopped garlic and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until vegetables are softened and a little charred at the tips. Set aside.
- In a large soup pot heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the other half of the chopped garlic, the coriander, caraway seeds and pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir and cook for a few minutes, just until the garlic starts to turn golden and the spices release their fragrance.
- Drain and rinse barley and stir into spices in the pot. Cook, stirring for a few minutes, so the grains are gilded with the spiced oil.
- Add 3 cups of water. Stir and let mixture come to a boil. Reduce heat to medium.
- Add tomato paste and smoked paprika and stir until combined.
- Cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and let the barley cook for 30 minutes, soaking up the water and the spices.
- After half an hour, check the post. The thirsty barley grains should have swelled and absorbed all the liquid.
- Add liquid smoke, chickpeas and roasted vegetables. Stir to combine, cover again and let flavors blend and all the ingredients heat through — about 10 minutes. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Just before serving, add the fresh chopped greens by the handful. Stir. They will wilt effortlessly into the barley.
- Add a squeeze of fresh lemon and serve.
Spring carrots and fresh greens make this a seasonal delight, but feel free to change up the vegetables. Keep the greens, please, but instead of carrots, add about 1-1/2 cups of:
- Asparagus. Slice asparagus stalks and add just a few minutes before serving. Asparagus should be bright and tender, not limp and defeated.
- Sturdier wintery vegetables like chopped cauliflower, broccoli or broccoli rabe.
- Summer favorites like zucchini or yellow squash, For best results, before roasting, chop squash and set in a colander or strainer. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt. This draws out the water in the squash and minimizes mushiness. Leave for 15 minutes, then rinse well to get rid of the salt and gently blot dry.
Instead of chickpeas, substitute fresh peas or favas, if you’re lucky enough to score some.
Tomato paste and smoked paprika impart smoky umami and richness to this stew not to mention a lovely bronze tone.
But what holds it all together is the barley. Botanical name hordeum vulgare, barley is one of the oldest of the ancient grains, first grown in the fertile crescent. Archaeologists have found mummies buried with necklaces of barley grains — that’s how precious it was.
It’s still precious. It’s sustainable, low water, and not fussy, able to grow in almost every climate — Africa, Asia, and all over eastern Europe.
When we’re talking whole grains, we mean grain complete with its hull or husk, the tough outer coat In most cases. In most cases, that’s what I prefer for flavor, texture and wellness. Whole grains add fiber, which we all need, and barley has more than most, with 3 grams of fiber per half-cup serving. That’s twice as much as brown rice and a hair more than quinoa.
However, barley’s a tough case. Literally. Whole grain barley, known as pot barley, has a thick husk that’s not terribly delicious or digestible. It also takes another half hour to cook. This recipe — as with most — calls for using pearled barley, with the husk removed. It still has plenty of the fiber and protein you need.
I’ve loved barley’s nutty taste and nubbly texture since that first taste of my grandmother’s mushroom barley soup. Each grain remains intact in cooking and yet like oatmeal, all the grains together create a naturally creamy texture.
Barley is thirsty. It will drink up any liquid even after cooking. You may find leftover stew could use a little rehydrating. Reheat gently and stir in another half-cup or so of water. Season with sea salt and pepper and you should be good to go.
Cooked, it triples in volume, so a cup of dried barley cooks up to 3 cups of nutty, nubbly whole grains.
It feeds us, and feeds our animal friends.
Mallted, it’s used to make whiskey and Guinness.
Barley gives us all a lot to love.
Smoky Barley Stew with Spring Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups pearled barley
- 1 onion sliced thin
- 1 sweet red yellow or orange pepper sliced thin
- 2 carrots chopped into batons
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided use
- 6 garlic cloves chopped
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- pinch red peper flakes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 cup chickpeas
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 3 cups fresh spring greens such as arugula, spinach, sorrel and/or mustard greens, coarsely chopped
- juice of 1 lemon to finish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pour barley into a bowl. Cover with cool water and set aside.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.
- Spread onion, pepper, carrots on the baking sheet. Don’t crowd the vegetable. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, scatter half the chopped garlic and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until vegetables are softened and a little charred at the tips. Set aside.
- In a large soup pot heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the other half of the chopped garlic, the coriander, caraway seeds and pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir and cook for a few minutes, just until the garlic starts to turn golden and the spices release their fragrance.
- Drain and rinse barley and stir into spices in the pot. Cook, stirring for a few minutes, so the barley grains are gilded with the spiced oil.
- Add 3 cups of water. Stir and let mixture come to a boil. Reduce heat to medium.
- Add tomato paste and smoked paprika and stir into the barley until combined.
- Cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and let the barley cook for 30 minutes, soaking up the water and the spices.
- After half an hour, check the pot. The thirsty barley grains should have swelled and absorbed all the liquid.
- Add liquid smoke, chickpeas and roasted vegetables. Stir to combine, cover again and let flavors blend and all the ingredients heat through — about 10 minutes. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Just before serving, add the fresh chopped greens by the handful. Stir. They will wilt effortlessly into the barley.
- Add a squeeze of fresh lemon and serve.
More ways to barley
- Barley for breakfast? You bet your belila.
- Seven sacred foods salad
- Another barley recipe for spring
- Plants Rule’s Irish barley vegetable soup
- Nava Atlas’s vegan cholent
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