This barley, herb, and mushroom salad is incredible. As an added bonus, it’s a terrific vegetarian salad option at a dinner party. It’s high in fiber and packed with healthy goodness too.

While you can prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time, including the barley and mushrooms, hold off on mixing the whole salad together in a salad bowl until you’re ready to serve.

This one recipe has it all. It’s chewy and meaty. The herbs give this dish freshness, and color. Plus, the shallot oil is amazing. Accompanied with some parmesan cheese and drizzled lemon, the balance is perfect.

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Barley, Herb, and Mushroom Salad Recipe

Barley, herb, and oyster mushroom salad recipe with shallot oil, buttery mushrooms, and fresh herbs. This vegetarian salad is just so tasty.

Course Salad, Side Dish

Keyword barley, fresh salad, lemon, oyster mushroom, parsley, salad, shallot, thyme, vegetarian

Ingredients

• 1 cup Pearl Barley
• 2 Shallots
• ½ cup Olive oil
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 225 grams Oyster Mushrooms
• 2 sprigs Thyme
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 cup Parsley
• 1 cup Coriander
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

• Add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of washed pearl barley to a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered for 35 minutes. Once the barley is cooked drain it, and then spread it out on a baking tray in the fridge to cool.
• Slice the shallots, then add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan. Cook the shallots on medium heat until cooked through. Remove the shallots and place them on some paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Lightly season the shallots and allow them to cool. Don't discard the shallot oil. It'll be used for the dressing.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat and lightly cook the mushrooms, then season with salt and pepper.
• At this stage, you'll turn the heat to low heat. Add thyme, garlic, and butter to the pan, and baste the mushrooms with the butter/ oil. Remove the mushrooms once cooked through and place them into a bowl.
• In a large salad bowl, toss the barley, parsley, coriander, parmesan, mushrooms and lemon juice.
• Finally, drizzle the shallot oil over the top, sprinkle with extra parmesan, and shallots. Yummy!

Tips and Swaps

For those of you who don’t like barley, brown rice is a great alternative for this salad. We prefer brown rice over white rice for added flavour.

This recipe is high energy with lots of carbs and fats. So, for the calorie-conscious, you can certainly consider reducing the oil and butter quantities to your liking. You could also use less barley and more vegetables if you so desire.

We love to use oyster mushrooms, but you can choose from any of your favorite mushroom varieties. And don’t go easy on them. More is better when it comes to this ingredient. For those who want to bulk up the barley salad, you could also consider adding roasted asparagus or pumpkin, spinach, and additional herbs such as basil.

Finally, a generous amount of parmesan will give this salad that acidic flavour burst that ties it all together. If you want the dish to have less energy, go easy on the parmesan. But remember that it really does tie all the ingredients together.

If you like this salad recipe, you can find other recipes like this on our recipes, food & wine page.

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