Skillet Mushrooms and Chard With Barley or Brown Rice
- 1 cup barley or brown rice
- 1 quart water
- Salt to taste
- 1 generous bunch Swiss chard or rainbow chard
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon lemon- or mushroom-scented olive oil
- 1 pound mushrooms, trimmed and cut in thick slices
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup barley water
- Combine the barley or rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Add salt to taste, reduce the heat and simmer the barley for 1 hour, brown rice for 35 to 40 minutes, or until tender.
- Set a strainer over a bowl and drain the grains.
- Retain the cooking water.
- While the grains are cooking, stem the chard and wash thoroughly in two changes of water.
- Chop coarsely.
- If the stalks are merely thick, dice them; if they are stringy, discard them.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, wide skillet or wok.
- Add the mushrooms and chard stems, if using, and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms sear and begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic, thyme and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the chard and raise the heat to high.
- Cook, stirring, until the chard wilts, which shouldnt take more than 3 minutes (you may have to add the chard in batches, depending on the size of your pan).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Once the chard has wilted, add .75 cup of the cooking water from the rice or barley.
- Cover and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes, or until the chard is tender.
- Uncover, stir and if you wish to have more sauce with the vegetables, add more cooking water from the grains and stir until it reduces to the desired consistency.
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Drizzle on the remaining oil and serve with the grains.
barley, water, salt, generous, extra virgin olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, freshly ground pepper, barley water
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12307 (may not work)