Flavorful, textural and colorful—baked green barley and kale with lemon tahini sauce has it going on. Green? Yes! Wait ‘til you taste its savory goodness. Wait ‘til those lovely green barley pearls roll all around in your mouth—can food be this fun to eat? OK—don’t wait, dive in, this dish surprises.
A bright puree of pungent-sweet kale gets stirred into chewy-soft barley nuggets, paint them green. Lace that combo with golden umami mushrooms and garlic, and lemon zest. Give it time in the oven for crunch around the edges. The final flourish—a bright tasting creamy sauce of tahini and lemon.
When the green-barley-mushroom-garlic-lemon wonderfulness goes in the oven, whisk up the lemon tahini sauce. Ta-da! Green barley and kale with lemon tahini sauce for dinner!
Green Barley and Kale recipe details:
- Lemon zest, fresh garlic, and minced parsley, the three together, are the classic seasoning known as https://www.loveandlemons.com/gremolata-recipe/gremolata. You’ll love the punch gremolata flavors give to barley and kale.
- Use your favorite purchased vegetable broth or make your own. My go-to vegetable broth comes from this quality powdered vegetable broth. (Affiliate link.)
- Sharp white cheddar pairs nicely with kale and we almost always have some on hand. The original recipe calls for Gruyère or provolone.
- For a completely plant-based vegan dish, take away the cheese, instead stirring in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Bake green barley and kale as one casserole or in individual molds or 4 to 6 ounce ramekins. (Affiliate link.) (I used coffee cups!)
- Check out the green color before baking. Vivid, huh? When baked, the color comes out darker green. It’s still striking.
This is my adaptation of the green barley and kale gratin in Deborah Madison’s classic Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. (Affiliate link.) I’ve added mushrooms to the mix, plus lemon, garlic, and parsley. Instead of butter, my version calls for olive oil, and vegetable broth instead of milk.
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Baked Green Barley and Kale with Lemon Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
Barley and kale:
- 1 cup pearl barley , rinsed
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 bunch kale , stems removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 ounces mushrooms , sliced
- 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ cups hot vegetable broth
- 1 or 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup grated white Cheddar cheese
- Parsley or lemon slices , for garnish
For the sauce:
- ½ cup tahini
- ½ cup hot water
- 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- Pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Add the barley and salt; reduce the heat and cook, uncovered, until the barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, cook the kale in boiling salted water until it is tender, 6 to 10 minutes. Drain, saving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. In a food processor, puree the drained kale with the water until smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat six individual molds lightly with oil.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium-high flame. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are golden brown and there is no liquid left in the skillet, about 10 minutes. Remove six browned mushroom slices from the pan and place one slice in the bottom of each cup.
- Over medium flame, stir the flour into the browned mushrooms, and cook a few minutes to make a roux. Slowly add the vegetable broth, whisking until the liquid thickens a bit. Stir in the garlic, lemon zest and parsley.
- Mix the barley, pureed kale and the cheese into the mushroom sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into the cups. (see note) Bake about 30 minutes, or until the edges are just browned.
While the barley cups bake, prepare the sauce:
- Whisk tahini with the hot water until smooth. Whisk in lemon juice, garlic, salt and cayenne. Taste, and add more seasoning if needed.
To serve:
- Out of the oven, let the ramekins cool 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges and invert onto plates. Serve with the sauce, garnished with parsley leaves or thin lemon slices.
Notes
- You don’t have to use individual molds. To make this recipe easier, bake your green barley and kale in one casserole dish.
- The lemon tahini sauce thickens as it stands. Thin with more water as needed.
Like it. Want to try this soon! May be I will add some Indian spice! How that sounds? 😉 · 2 February, 2016
I love the idea of Indian spices Uma! · 2 February, 2016
Green kale and golden mushrooms! This is my kind of rainbow. GREG · 6 February, 2016