Good Question: How Do I Cook Barley?

Do you have any great vegetarian barley recipes? Can you help Cheryl out? She writes:

I LOVE barley! The only recipes I know are good soup recipes with barley. How else can I prepare it? I'm a vegetarian, so if you could recommend any vegetarian barley recipes, I'd be so happy!

Cheryl, we love barley too! Barley has that wonderfully chewy texture and a nutty flavor that reminds us of toasted bread. It's not just all for soups, though; barley makes wonderful risottos and pilafs. It is also good cooked and tossed in salads. It takes about 40 minutes to cook on the stovetop, and about half that in a pressure cooker. You can also cook it covered in the oven with water or milk; we like to do this with nuts and spices as a breakfast pilaf.

Here are a few recipes from elsewhere that show off its goodness in risotto-like dishes.

• Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad - Pictured above - looks delicious.
• Barley Risotto with Asparagus and Hazelnuts - So springlike!
• Roasted Cauliflower Barley Risotto - Another vegetarian recipe (just substitute out the chicken broth). It calls for toasting the barley, which gives it an even deeper flavor.

Here are a few more ideas from The Kitchn:

• Recipe: Yogurt Barley Soup
• Roasted Beet Salad with Barley, Feta, and Red Onion
• Savory Apples with Barley and Sausage
• Reader Cupboard Challenge: Lentils, Salmon, Barley, Clam Juice and Moonshine Jelly

Readers, do you have any more ideas for Cheryl?

Next question?

Related: Good Grains: What Is Spelt?

(Image: Romulo Yanes for Gourmet)

Comments (8)

I actually like to make risotto with barley- just use it in place of arborio- has a great texture and adds a nuttier flavor. It is delicious- a butternut squash and sage risotto? You can't go wrong.

I've made this fantastic mushroom casserole from 101 Cookbooks with 1/2 brown rice and 1/2 barley, cooked together in a rice cooker as you would cook rice. It turned out fantastic!

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/mushroom-casserole-recipe.html

I sometimes will slowly cook barley with cubed beef and diced mushroom. And a little olive oil. Shortly before its done I'll add chopped asparagus and garlic. Once its done I top with a little parmesan cheese and black pepper.

I assume most people would add salt in there somewhere.

I've been cooking a variety of hot breakfast porridges lately-- Farina, stone ground oats, quinoa.... YUM
and I would love a recipe for breakfast barley if anyone has one?

there's a great recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (well, there are lots of great recipes in that book) with barley and kale.
Basically, you braise the kale in salted water while you cook the barley. Make a bechamel sauce, and add some cheese and barley. Puree the kale and then mix it in. You're supposed to then bake it, but I am happy just to eat it like that. YUM! A whole meal.

Barley pilaf is definitely one delicious way to prepare barley - we prepare ours with Artichoke and Walnut. And although pistachios may be off limits right now, once they're safe again another delicious recipe to try is this recipe for Lamb, Barley and Pistachio Kofte or Turkish meatballs. Enjoy!

What a coincidence! I just cooked barley for the first time yesterday. I used it in a salad, mixed with sliced radicchio, persian cucumbers, blood orange slices, mint and feta. I dressed it with a lemon vinaigrette. It was fantastic -- I foresee a lot of barley salads in my future....

Here's a picture. And I'll be posting a recipe on my blog within the next week.

This barley salad is my favorite way to use barely. So, so good. Along the quinoa line of things, I make this southwetern quinoa salad all the time. They are both so light and refreshing, and they're great for picking right out of the fridge.