PinI’m not sure if I would be as passionate of a daily cook if I lived in New York City. Don’t get me wrong, the farmer’s markets there are incredible and some of the groceries make me feel like I’m in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory whenever I visit, but between the size of most NY apartment kitchens and the unbelievably delicious take out food you can pick up or order in to have on your table in minutes, it’s tough to want to spend time cooking, especially if you’re a busy mom.
Over the holiday, we went to stay with my in-laws, who live in New York City. Although I did cook a few meals there, ordering in was like a serious mommy vacation for me. We ordered in all kinds of yummy food_ Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and chopped salads and from the most incredible caterer that seemingly carried everthing under the sun. One night, my MIL ordered some barley with mushrooms and onions and offered my daughter a taste. Chloe is an incredible eater, but I didn’t think she’d find this dish appealing at all. Enjoy it? She ate the ENTIRE pint. I was so blown away that I ordered some more for the plane ride home and she blew through all of it before we were halfway across the country. Never one to mess around when I find a food that my whole family likes, I picked up the phone and called the caterer for his recipe. I’m not sure if I replicated his dish exactly, but the other night I made this for five kids we had over and they made some serious “all gone”. Lucky for you this recipe is easy enough to make that you don’t need to order out to have it show up in your kitchen!
Mushroom Barley
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the sugar and cook for another 5 minutes or until onions start to caramelize.
- Remove the onions to a plate and add the mushrooms, garlic and 1/2 tsp salt to the pot. Cook for 3 minutes or until the water from the mushrooms start to evaporate, then remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add the chicken stock into the same pot and bring to a boil, add the barley, 1/2 tsp salt, reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until tender.*
- Add the onions and mushrooms to the pot to combine and cook until heated through.
- Serve.
- *Cooking in the same pot allows all of the flavors to combine.
Just made this and is was great! I added some finely chopped carrots and sweet potatoes and omitted the sugar. This will be a staple in my house. My daughter is a very picky eater and she just polished off a second helping.
This was awesome! My husband was a bit skeptical of barley in anything but soup however he did go back for a large second helping! My 14 month old and I both LOVED it!
Hello, I am a dietitian that works with food allergies and I just wanted you to know that barley (in any form) is not gluten free, nor can you buy it gluten free.
The pot barley make take a bit longer to cook. Follow the recipe directions and just increase cooking time if it isn’t soft yet (you might need to add a little hot liquid at this point, too, if the barley has soaked it all up)!
Hi there, I just love your recipe book. I made dinners and cookies all week from your book and my 2yr old toddler is gobbling them up – thank you!
I’m about to cook the mushroom barley but only have pot barley in hand. Can I use this instead if the pearl barley?
Many thanks
Lee
I don’t think I have any white sugar in the house – would it be fine if I use splenda?
Try it with the lid off, I did and it came out fine!
Hi. I made this last night and after 45 minutes of simmering with lid on, it was still very soupy. I was thinking there might be a typo and I was on ly supposed to use 2 cups of broth?
I made this for the first time tonight, and it was a SMASHING success! What a tremendous flavor. I can’t wait to find out what leftovers taste like tomorrow!
I just want to point out what a huge hit this recipe has been. My 14month old began eating this at about nine months and she still loves it whenever I make it! (I TRY to give her something new at least three times a week). I have made this for guests and they all love it. And it is SO EASY to make. I don’t say that often. If it wasn’t for my little girl I would probably still be boycotting the kitchen. Seriously.
Hello! I love your blog, but I can’t seem to open your site in Internet Explorer 7. Should I disable cookies or something else? Thanx! x Trena
I just made this tonight for our family and it was a huge hit! My 14 month old adores mushrooms, where as daddy and I aren’t such big fans (only eat them because our son likes them so much), but this recipe mave have made us converts! I added a little diced red pepper for color. Sooo yummy!! This will defiantely become a staple in our house!
I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a couple of months but our kids L-O-V-E this! Our 3.5 YO asks me for it every week. I was surprised. I had been a little skeptical at your claim that your kids were fans, but wanted to give it a shot, and what a good choice that was! Thanks for sharing!
No, it would be a different texture and the recipe would be different than what the directions call for. You can test it out and see if it works though, let me know how it goes! 🙂
Could you swap out the barley for quinoa for a bit of protein, and if so, how would you change the cooking time?
I saw your comment and just wanted to say that our daughters aren’t big mushroom fans either. I used a Pampered Chef chopper and just chopped them up really small, so they were about the same size as the barley. Our kids didn’t notice them. They are small, though (3.5 and 1) so a little easier to trick than older kids. 🙂