Mushroom Lentil Barley Casserole

Submitted by mrsfabicons

"A good vegan dish to add to a festive meal. Great with red cabbage, broccoli and roasted root vegetables. And meat eaters like it too! This is a pretty versatile dish, read forgiving...if I don't have barley to hand rice works. Sometimes I have added in odds and sods of leftover veg like red peppers/courgettes/pumpkin and then used fewer (and/or just plain button)mushrooms. I have also zinged it up with smoked paprika and tabasco. As I said it goes well in a mixed holiday meal but sometime I just serve this with steamed savoy cabbage or kale and mashed potatoes."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 14.79 ml olive oil
• 226.79-340.19 g shallots or 226.79-340.19 g pickling onions, peeled
• 680.38 g mixed mushrooms, in thick slices (I use half mixture of wild or exotic ones like oyster, shittake, enoki and half chestnut mushrooms f)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 113.39 g pearl barley
• 113.39 g red lentils
• 29.58 ml soy sauce
• 44.37 ml dry sherry
• 354.89-473.19 ml vegetable stock
• 29.58 ml chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and parsley) or 29.58 ml dried herbs, equivalent
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

directions

1. Gently cook the shallots in the oil until softened and browned.
2. Add the mushroooms and minced garlic and cook on high heat until the mushrooms start to release their juices.
3. Stir in lentils, barley, soy sauce, sherry, herbs and 3/4 pint stock.
4. Bring to a boil and then either transfer to a covered casserole dish and bake at 180C for 45 mins or leave in the sauce pan and simmer on top of the cooker for 25-30 mins - til the barley and lentils are cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
5. You may need to top up the stock if it gets really dry so stir from time to time even if cooking in the oven, keep an eye on it.
6. Check for seasoning (can't ever remember it needing salt - between the soy and stock it is okay ) retrieve the bay leaf and finish with a grind of black pepper.