Barley and Mushroom Pot with Collards, Thyme, and Lemon
Mushrooms browned hard with leeks and thyme, then cooked barley stirred in with broth until the pot goes creamy, with collard ribbons folded through and lemon over the top.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
I love barley for the way it behaves in a pot. Cooked ahead and then stirred into a pan with a little broth, it gives up just enough starch to go creamy around the edges while every grain keeps its chew, which is something rice will not do for you unless you stand over it. That means the whole dish is about twenty minutes of actual attention. I cook a big pot of barley on the weekend precisely so this dinner is possible on a Tuesday.
The mushrooms are the flavor of the dish and they need real heat and real patience. A pound of them in a wide pan will look like far too many, will flood the pan with liquid, and will then cook down to about a third of the volume, at which point the browning finally starts. That is the moment everything changes. If you stir them constantly or crowd them into a small skillet you get gray mushrooms and a watery pot, and no amount of thyme fixes it afterward.
Collards go in near the end, cut into thin ribbons so they cook in four or five minutes without losing their bite. They keep this from being a beige bowl, both to look at and to eat, and their slight bitterness holds up against all that mushroom savor. The lemon at the table is not optional in my kitchen. A pot this deep and earthy needs something sharp squeezed over it, and it is the difference between a bowl you finish and a bowl you go back to.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups cooked pearl barley (from about 1 cup dry, simmered in unsalted water)
- 1 lb cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and caps quartered
- 1 bunch collard greens (about 9 oz), thick ribs cut out and leaves rolled and sliced into thin ribbons
- 2 medium leeks, white and pale green parts, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, stripped from about 8 sprigs
- 4 tsp lemon juice, plus wedges to serve
- 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cook the barley ahead: Simmer 1 cup pearl barley in plenty of unsalted water for 25 to 30 minutes, until the grains are tender with a distinct chew in the center. Drain well and spread it on a tray to stop the cooking. This can be done up to four days ahead and refrigerated.
- Brown the mushrooms properly: Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high with half the olive oil. Add the mushrooms in one layer and leave them alone for 4 minutes. They will squeak, then release a pool of liquid. Keep the heat up and cook 8 to 10 minutes total, stirring only occasionally, until the liquid has boiled away and the cut faces are genuinely brown. Scrape them onto a plate.
- Soften the leeks: Lower the heat to medium and add the rest of the oil and the sliced leeks with the salt. Cook 5 minutes, scraping up the brown film the mushrooms left behind as the leeks release moisture. Add the garlic, the thyme, and the black pepper and cook one minute more, until the garlic smells sweet.
- Make the pot creamy: Return the mushrooms with the barley and pour in the broth. Bring it to a simmer and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until most of the liquid has been taken up and the barley moves in a slow wave when you drag the spoon through it. If it tightens too fast, add a splash of water.
- Fold in the collards: Stir in the collard ribbons a handful at a time and cook 4 to 5 minutes, just until they have gone deep glossy green and are tender enough to bite through cleanly. They should still have body rather than melting into the pot.
- Finish and serve: Take the pan off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and let it sit for two minutes so the barley settles. Taste and add more pepper. Serve in shallow bowls with a lemon wedge on the side of each one.
Variations
- Rosemary and white bean: Add a drained, rinsed can of cannellini beans with the broth and use rosemary in place of the thyme for a heavier, more rustic pot.
- Dried mushroom broth: Soak half an ounce of dried porcini in the hot broth for 20 minutes, chop them, and add both the mushrooms and the strained soaking liquid for a much deeper pot.
- Farro or wild rice: Cooked farro gives a bigger, chewier grain and cooked wild rice gives a nuttier, darker one. Both work with the same amount of broth.
- Green herb finish: Stir a large handful of chopped parsley and the zest of the lemon in off the heat for a fresher, greener version.
Storage & Leftovers
This keeps four days in a sealed container in the refrigerator and is one of the better next-day lunches I make. The barley keeps drinking liquid overnight, so it firms up considerably in the cold and looks stiffer than it was. That is normal and reverses as soon as it warms with a little water.
Reheat in a pan over medium with a quarter cup of water or broth per portion, stirring until it loosens back into something creamy, about 4 minutes. A fresh squeeze of lemon at that point brings it all the way back, since the acid fades faster than anything else in the pot.
It freezes well for up to three months in flat portions, better than most grain dishes because barley holds its structure through thawing. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in a pan with extra liquid. The collards lose a little color in the freezer, which bothers the eye more than the palate.
Notes & Tips
- Give the mushrooms room: A pound of mushrooms in a ten-inch skillet will steam and stay gray. Use the widest pan you own, or brown them in two batches, and do not touch them for the first four minutes.
- Salt the mushrooms late: Salt draws water out immediately, which delays browning. It goes in with the leeks in this recipe for exactly that reason.
- Cook the barley in unsalted water: Grains absorb whatever they are simmered in. Cooking them plain leaves you in control of the seasoning at the end, where you can actually taste it.
- Slice the collards thin: Ribbons no wider than a quarter inch cook through in four minutes and stay green. Big torn pieces need twice as long and go drab in the process.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Barley, mushrooms, and collards make this pot what it is. The barley brings the chew and the bulk, the mushrooms bring the savory depth that makes it taste like it simmered all afternoon, and the collards bring color, bite, and a good deal of the calcium.
- Collard greens are sturdy enough to hold their texture in a hot pot, and they carry more calcium than almost any other leaf you can buy, along with vitamin K. Sliced into thin ribbons and cooked briefly they keep both their color and their bite.
- Barley is one of the chewiest whole grains, and its beta-glucan is a soluble fiber that has been studied for its effect on cholesterol. It is also what makes the pot go creamy at the edges as it simmers.
- Mushrooms bring glutamates, the compounds behind savory flavor, which is why a pan of them browned properly tastes like so much more than a vegetable. Any that spent time in sunlight also carry vitamin D, which few plant foods do.
- Thyme, garlic, black pepper, and lemon are the frame around all that earthiness. The lemon goes in off the heat and again at the table, and that late acid is what keeps a deep brown pot from tasting heavy by the last spoonful.
- As you eat, pay attention to the chew of the barley against the soft mushrooms and the squeak of the greens, and notice the point where the bowl stops being hunger and starts being pleasure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cook the barley in the pot rather than ahead?
You can, and it becomes a longer, more risotto-like project. Add the dry barley to the leeks, then ladle in hot broth or water half a cup at a time, stirring often, for about 35 minutes. You will need roughly three cups of liquid in total. Cooking it separately is faster on a weeknight and gives you a better chew.
What kind of mushrooms work best?
Cremini are the workhorse and give you the deepest color. White button mushrooms work and taste milder. A handful of torn oyster or shiitake mushrooms mixed in adds a woodsier note, and if you use shiitake, discard the stems, which stay tough no matter how long they cook.
Can I use another green?
Kale is the closest swap and behaves the same way in ribbons. Mustard greens go in with more of a peppery bite and need only two or three minutes. Whatever you use, slice it thin and add it at the end rather than early, so it keeps its color and its bite.
My pot came out soupy. What should I do?
Keep it on the heat and let it go a few minutes longer uncovered, stirring. Barley will absorb more liquid than you expect right up to the end. The other cause is mushrooms that never finished releasing their water, so give them the full browning next time.