Great Barley Side Dishes

Producing dis tinc t, per fec tly textured grains is as easy as boiling water.

j B Y S T E V E D U N N k

If you’ve only ever used barley to bulk up a brothy soup, consider this your introduction to another hearty grain with great versatility. Like farro, wheat berries, and brown rice, barley is nutty but neutral, so it pairs well with most seasonings and can deliver satisfying chew.

I wanted to feature barley in a handful of simple sides, so I cooked a batch using the absorption method that we commonly use for rice. I soon realized why barley is typically relegated to soup: After I’d simmered 1 cup of barley in 3 cups of water in a covered pot until the grains were tender and had absorbed all the liquid, the barley clumped together, bound by a starchy paste—think gluey oatmeal. Undeterred, I cooked more batches with all the different barleys I could find at the supermarket, and the results were all over the place: Depending on the barley product, the grains took anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour to cook and soaked up between 2½ and 4 cups of water.

It turns out that barley has two big strikes against it. Most barley sold in the United States is “pearled”— meaning that the inedible hull has been removed and that the grain has been pearled, or polished. The problem is that depending on the amount of abrasion used during pearling, different amounts of bran (or germ or endosperm) may be left intact. The more bran that is left intact, the more liquid and time barley needs to cook. What’s more, barley is prone to releasing starch and clumping (see “Treat Barley Like Pasta”).

With this in mind, I turned to the pasta cooking method, in which the barley grains are cooked in a large volume of water and then drained. The cooking times still varied from product to product, but since I could periodically test the grains for doneness, that no longer mattered. Plus, draining the cooking water rid the grains of most of their surface starch, so they remained separate.

Before tossing the cooked barley with bold dressings, I spread the grains on a rimmed baking sheet to cool a bit. The cooled barley would be drier and thus less sticky and wouldn’t wilt the fresh herbs I planned to combine it with. Once the grains were no longer steaming, I tossed them with a punchy lemon vinaigrette—a 1:1 ratio of oil to lemon juice rather than the typical 3:1 oil-to-acid ratio—to complement their earthy, nutty flavor, and I further brightened the mix with lemon zest, scallions, and generous amounts of fresh mint and cilantro. I flavored a second batch with a ginger-miso dressing to which I added celery and carrots for crunch; a third version included fresh fennel and dried apricots and was dressed with an orange juice–based vinaigrette. See? Barley’s not just for soup anymore.

Treat Barley Like Pasta

Barley is prone to clumping for two reasons: First, its starch granules burst relatively early in the cooking time. Second, the starch is sticky because it’s loaded with amylopectin, the branching molecule that’s responsible for the stickiness of short-grain rices. Boiling barley in a large volume of water, just as you would when cooking pasta, and then draining it prevents clumping because it dilutes the starch in abundant water, which we then drain away.

Look: Barley on the Side A step-by-step video is available at CooksIllustrated.com/jun18

BARLEY WITH LEMON AND HERBS

SERVES 6 TO 8

The cooking time will vary from product to product, so start checking for doneness after 25 minutes.

1½ cups pearled barley Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons minced shallot 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 3 tablespoons juice 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 6 scallions, sliced thin on bias ¼ cup minced fresh mint ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro

1. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Add barley and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, adjusting heat to maintain gentle boil, until barley is tender with slight chew, 25 to 45 minutes. 2. While barley cooks, whisk oil, shallot, lemon zest and juice, mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together in large bowl. 3. Drain barley. Transfer to prepared sheet and spread into even layer. Let stand until no longer steaming, 5 to 7 minutes. Add barley to bowl with dressing and toss to coat. Add scallions, mint, and cilantro and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

For distinct grains, let the barley cool before dressing it.

BARLEY WITH CELERY AND MISO DRESSING

Substitute 3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon white miso paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar, and ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes for olive oil, shallot, lemon zest and juice, mustard, salt, and pepper in step 2. Substitute 2 celery ribs, sliced thin on bias, and 2 peeled and grated carrots for scallions. Omit mint and increase cilantro to ½ cup.

BARLEY WITH FENNEL, DRIED APRICOTS, AND ORANGE

Substitute 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar and ½ teaspoon grated orange zest plus 2 tablespoons juice for lemon zest and juice. Omit mustard. Reduce olive oil to 2 tablespoons and add 1 minced garlic clove to dressing in step 2. Substitute 20 chopped dried California apricots and 1 small fennel bulb, 2 tablespoons fronds minced, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored, and chopped fine, for scallions. Omit mint and substitute parsley for cilantro.