Mushroom and barley salad - country living
6 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 2½ | cup | Water |
| ¾ | cup | Regular pearl barley |
| 1 | teaspoon | Plus 1 T fresh thyme leaves |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Salt |
| 2 | tablespoons | Olive oil |
| 1 | Clove garlic, finely chopped | |
| 2 | ounces | Shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced |
| ½ | teaspoon | Finely grated lemon rind |
| ⅛ | teaspoon | Ground black pepper |
| 6 | ounces | Assorted cultivated wild mushrooms (we used oyster, chanterelle, and hedgehog), stemmed |
| ½ | cup | Yellow whole-kernel corn |
| Dressing (recipe follows) | ||
| 6 | cups | Mixed salad greens (we used mache, baby red-leaf and Boston lettuce, and arugula) |
| 12 | Cherry tomatoes, halved | |
| Sprig fresh thyme (opt.) | ||
Directions
1. In 2-quart saucepan, heat water to boiling. Add barley, 1 t thyme, and the salt; cook, covered, 45 minutes over medium-low heat or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. Spoon into medium-size bowl; set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic; saute until golden brown. Add shiitake mushrooms, remaining 1 T thyme, the lemon rind, and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms soften-about 5 minutes. Add remaining assorted mushrooms and cook, stirring gently, until just tender-about 2 minutes. Set aside about ½ C cooked mushrooms in small bowl. Add corn to skillet and cook, stirring, until corn is cooked-about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl with barley.
3. Prepare Dressing; add half to barley mixture and toss gently.
4. To serve, place greens in large serving bowl or platter; spoon barley mixture on top. Scatter reserved ½ C mushrooms on top of mixture; place cherry tomatoes around edge of bowl on top of greens.
Drizzle remaining Dressing over salad. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.
Dressing: In food processor fitted with chopping blade, process ⅓ C olive oil, ¼ C white-wine vinegar, 1 small clove garlic, 2 T fresh lemon juice, 1 t fresh thyme leaves, and ⅛ t salt until mixture thickens.
Country Living/Sept/93 Scanned & fixed by DP & GG