Herbed Grain Salad With Mushrooms, Hazelnuts and Pears
- Total Time
- 1¼ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- Kosher salt
- 1½cups pearl barley or whole grains, like farro
- 1big handful (1 cup packed) fresh sorrel or baby spinach, tough stems removed
- ¾cup chopped fresh dill, tough stems removed, plus more for garnish
- 1garlic clove, peeled
- ½cup toasted hazelnuts or walnuts, plus ½ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
- ¾cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, and more as needed
- 2tablespoons white wine vinegar, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2cups (about 6 ounces) diced shiitake, maitake or king oyster mushrooms
- 1pear, peeled (if desired), cored and diced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
316 calories; 24 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 215 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in barley and return to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a gentle boil until tender but not mushy, 30 to 40 minutes. (Different grains will cook at different rates.)
- Step 2
Make the dressing: In a food processor, combine the greens, dill and garlic and process until finely chopped, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the whole nuts and pulse a few times to coarsely chop. While the motor is running, add the ¾ cup oil gradually in a slow stream and process until smooth. Add the vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper (12 to 16 grinds), and mix. Taste and adjust the seasonings with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. It should taste bright and rich.
- Step 3
Cook the mushrooms: In a wide, medium-size pot, combine the mushrooms and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Stir in the 2 tablespoons oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are completely cooked through and well browned, 5 to 10 minutes more. (The mushrooms will shrink quite a bit.) Remove from the heat and sprinkle with salt.
- Step 4
When the barley is cooked, drain it well and return to the pot. Let cool until warm, stirring occasionally. (If the dressing is added when the grains are too hot, it will turn brown and taste "cooked.") Stir in a little oil if needed to prevent sticking. Stir in dressing and set aside, stirring occasionally, to let the grains absorb the dressing, at least 10 minutes.
- Step 5
When ready to serve, taste the barley and season again. Gently mix in mushrooms, pear and chopped nuts. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with lots of dill, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Jessica
Delicious. I recommend adding pear only to the part of the salad you want to eat right away, and add it to the remaining salad only when you plan to eat it. Otherwise the pear turns brown and mushy.
cynthia
Just one question. Why in the world would you BOIL a nice maitake or shitake mushroom that you could just sauté instead?! They cook perfectly well without any water. I’m honestly baffled by this technique — we made the recipe but sautéed the mushrooms in a little olive oil first, then added them and the dressing to the rest of the salad ingredients. I would really love for someone to explain why the boiling? Thanks!
Mina
Buckwheat groats ( Kasha) would be nice. Use a tart apple instead of a pear to balance out the flavor with buckwheat.
Dana
Really tasty. But I would love for someone to explain the mushroom cooking technique. Why the water? We just sauteed the mushrooms, and they were delicious.
Katherine
I could not bring myself to boil the mushrooms, they were good sauteed. This is a nice side dish for chicken, fish or pork, but hearty enough to serve as a main dish for vegetarians. It is different, which was appreciated.
Doug
2 teaspoons of salt for the dressing? I thought that seemed like a lot and used about half of that, but it was still quite salty... Apart from that, this recipe has great potential.
Ellie in Portland ME
What might be a good grain for this that is Gluten Free? Quinoa? or brown and wild rice?
joan
(in response to Eileen Cohrs) farro is not GF. it's a form of wheat...
Stephanie Todd
This was delicious. I made it with pearl couscous and walnuts. I added quite a bit more vinegar than the recipe suggests.
Beth Green
Excellent! The "boil mushroom" technique was described in Cooks Illustrated. It allows the mushrooms to release their liquid before the addition of oil. The results are the same, but with much less oil. I used farro, added in some raw bok choi at the end, and only used half of the dressing. The other half went on the grilled salmon. Fantastic dish!
Marianna
It may be a legacy of Soviet cuisine. Vegetables were often boiled there for salads, I cannot remember them ever being sauteed. That being said, I grew up in the USSR and I do not remember this salad. Must be a new creation and l Iike the idea.
peterindc
Although new to boiling mushrooms, we found this technique worked well with a mix of shiitakes and oysters from the farmer’s market. It creates mushroom, keeps them tender, and they still browned and smelt heavenly as usual. We cut the oil from 3/4 C to 1/4 C and didn’t miss it. Dill pesto is a great idea.
Beth JL
Made a few changes. I count calories and 3/4 cup of oil is a lot! So, made the dressing with only 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of walnuts. Didn't boil the mushrooms, just sauteed them in 2T of oil. Cut up the pear, then squeezed half lemon over the pieces so they don't brown. Still came out great and I think it would have been oily with that much oil.
Potluck Dream
I keep coming back to this recipe. A great potluck side dish, so bright and flavorful. Thank you!
Diane
I thought it was a lot of dressing and a bit garlicky. The garlic overwhelmed the other flavours. So I’d definitely reduce both. I liked the mushroom cooking method. It really intensified the flavour. I would also probably add more mushrooms and pears next time (the pears really enhanced it).
Kate S
I made the recipe as directed, using farro for the grain and spinach in the dressing. I was super skeptical of boiling my shiitake mushrooms, but did it anyway. Both my husband and I like the dish quite a bit, but I don't think the mushrooms added anything. In the future, I would omit them. I'm not a huge mushroom fan anyway, so this doesn't break my heart. The dressing was delicious, but VERY rich. For leftovers, I tossed the dressed grain salad with more raw spinach and it balanced well.
Western Winnie
This was rich and bright, but we didn’t enjoy it. I think the culprit was the raw garlic which overpowered the subtle flavors of the barley, hazelnut, and mushrooms. We love garlic but this was yucky! I adore Kachka, and don’t think think Chef Morales would serve such an imbalanced dish. I live in Oregon so my hazelnuts and pears were perfect and my dill freshly picked from my rainy garden! I was left craving dried sour cherries, so suggest a sour cherry dessert and omitting/sautéing the garlic.
Beth JL
Made a few changes. I count calories and 3/4 cup of oil is a lot! So, made the dressing with only 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of walnuts. Didn't boil the mushrooms, just sauteed them in 2T of oil. Cut up the pear, then squeezed half lemon over the pieces so they don't brown. Still came out great and I think it would have been oily with that much oil.
Beth Green
Excellent! The "boil mushroom" technique was described in Cooks Illustrated. It allows the mushrooms to release their liquid before the addition of oil. The results are the same, but with much less oil. I used farro, added in some raw bok choi at the end, and only used half of the dressing. The other half went on the grilled salmon. Fantastic dish!
peterindc
Although new to boiling mushrooms, we found this technique worked well with a mix of shiitakes and oysters from the farmer’s market. It creates mushroom, keeps them tender, and they still browned and smelt heavenly as usual. We cut the oil from 3/4 C to 1/4 C and didn’t miss it. Dill pesto is a great idea.
Katja
Amazingly delicious recipe. I wouldn’t change a thing
audrey
This was a plate licker, as my daughter and I call our favorite dishes. But a few comments follow. 1.5 t diamond brand kosher salt did the trick. The recomended 2 t was too much. Next time around Id reduce olive oil to more like 1/2 cup. Also, I did follow the step to simmer mushrooms in water but I wondered about it’s usefulness like others have. I chose to do it bc my king oysters got a little dried out in the fridge. They came out hella good, but Next time I’ll go straight to sautéing them
Robyn
Share mushrooms instead of boiling and use less salt.
Sonya Berg
Perhaps they were using dried mushrooms.
Cindy
Can you add the recipe for the recommended sorrel dressing? "Another great option: Julia Moskin’s herbed grain salad with mushrooms, hazelnuts, pears and a sorrel dressing."
Rodrigo Perez
Excellent recipe, my wife loved the dish. Quinoa could be used instead of the barley.
Michele
Followed recipe exactly including boiling the oyster mushroom I decided to use, loved it. Will add some chicken to the leftovers and am still thinking this recipe is the best new recipe I have tried in months.
Kristin
Used farro and tart apple. I also cut down the oil in the dressing to 1/4 cup. It was delicious.
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