A warm winter dish – Pearl Barley is making a bit of a come back at the moment. I remember it from the lamb soup my Mother use to make, but here I pair it with roasted chicken pieces, brown and wild mushrooms and some peas for colour. You can blanch some beans if you prefer, or if you want it to be a bit more elegant, use artichoke hearts, but I think the dish looks better with a dash of colour. I’ve used a mix of mushrooms as I think the wild mushrooms give a lovely flavour, but if you prefer you can make this with just a mix of brown and white mushrooms.
If you have left over chicken, you can just blanch it in some hot water, and add it to the sauce for a more risotto type dish. Serve with some greens, as potatoes or rice aren’t needed.
Dairy Free Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Pearl Barley
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken Thighs
- 175 grms Pearl Barley
- 100 grms Wild Mushrooms - Sliced
- 110 grms Brown Mushrooms - Sliced
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 1/2 Onion - Chopped
- 1/2 cup White Wine
- 250 ml Chicken Stock
- 250 ml Oatley Cream Or any dairy free cream
- 100 g Streaky Bacons - about 6 rashers
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 3/4 Cup Grated Vegan Parmesan - we like Violife
- 3/4 Cup Peas
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C 360°F
- Brown the Chicken Thighs in a large frying pan in a little vegetable oil or vegan butter. Once done, place in an oven proof dish. Pop in the oven for 40 minutes to cook. If you are using bone in breasts reduce to 30 minutes, boneless breasts then it's down to 20 minutes.
- Put the Pearl Barley in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and allow to bubble away for 45 minutes. Check as you go - make sure there is enough water covering the barley.
- In the same pan as you browned the chicken, fry the bacon, and when starting to get crisp add in the onion and fry until starting to colour, add in the garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add in the brown and wild mushrooms and fry until starting to colour.
- Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up any brown bits, add in the dairy free cream and chicken stock. Stir and allow to bubble away as the chicken and pearl barley are cooking.
- Five minutes before the pearl barley is cooked, add in the peas and warm them through.
- Add in the vegan parmesan to the sauce. Allow to bubble away for 5 minutes.
- Then drain the pearl barley and peas and stir into the sauce. Keep on a low heat for a few minutes, and finish by adding in the lemon juice.
- Take the chicken out of the oven, pour over the pearl barley sauce and serve with cabbage or kale.
The perfect pudding with this would be our Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding
