Voice recipe
Side1 hr6 as a sideJoyceDinner$Easy

Joyce's Mushroom Barley

Equipment

Wide sauté panSaucepan with lid

Prep

In Joyce's words: "Sauté onions and cut up mushrooms in oil. Cook barley. Mix barley and mushrooms with one package of onion soup mix. Mix it together like a pilaf." Beef broth gives it depth; vegetable broth is the only thing standing between this and vegetarian. Reheats better than most grain dishes - warm it in a pan with a splash of broth, not the microwave.

Ingredients

1 cPearled Barley
3 cBroth (Beef or Vegetable)
3 ea, slicedOnion (Yellow)
8 oz, cut upMushrooms
3 TbspOlive Oil
1 packetOnion Soup Mix
to tasteBlack Pepper

Method

Cook the Barley

  1. 1Bring 1 cup barley and 3 cups broth or water to a boil, then cover and simmer low until the grains are tender with a little chew left and the liquid is gone, 40-45 minutes.
  2. 2Set it aside uncovered so it doesn't steam itself soft.

Onions, All the Way Down

  1. 1While the barley works, heat the oil in a wide pan over medium-low and add the sliced onions.
  2. 2Cook, stirring now and then, until they're deep gold and collapsed - well past translucent, 25-30 minutes. This is the dish; rushing it is the one way to get it wrong.

Mushrooms

  1. 1Raise the heat a little and add the cut-up mushrooms.
  2. 2Cook until their water cooks off and the edges brown, 8-10 minutes.

Bring It Together

  1. 1Fold the cooked barley into the pan.
  2. 2Sprinkle the packet of onion soup mix over the top and add a splash of broth, enough that it dissolves and coats everything rather than sitting on top as powder.
  3. 3Stir until every grain is glossy and seasoned through.
  4. 4Taste before you reach for salt - the soup mix carries plenty. Pepper generously, loosen it with a fork like a pilaf, and serve hot.