My Favorite Holiday Barley Casserole

emily — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:48:26 +0000

What does a vegan make for Thanksgiving? While there are plenty of festive options, my “go to” recipe is for the Barley Casserole from my “go to” vegan cookbook, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.

This casserole is hearty, extremely flavorful, and popular with both vegans and non-vegans. It also tastes equally delicious hot or cold.

Aerial View of Barley Casserole

The first step is to prepare the barley.

Barley Boiling

And strain it!

Barley in Strainer

Gather the ingredients…

Barley Casserole Ingredients

And sauté the garlic and onion.

Sauteed Garlic and Onion

Then add the veggies.

The recipe also calls for shoyu. What is shoyu and how is it different from soy sauce? The short answer is that shoyu is natural soy sauce. Natural soy sauce is made from a combination of soybeans, roasted hard red wheat, sea salt, and water while mass-produced soy sauce is made from chemically produced defatted soybean pulp. To learn more about the differences between shoyu and soy sauce click on:

http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/soy-sauce-shoyu-tamari/

When I made this recipe, I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, a soy sauce alternative. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a certified Non-GMO, gluten-free, protein concentrate made from soybeans. It tastes like soy sauce and can be substituted in any recipe.

The bottom line is that you can use soy sauce, Shoyu, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in this recipe and achieve great results!

Veggies for Barley Casserole

Add the spices…

Spices for Barley Casserole

And you’ve completed the barley layer!

Barley Mixture

Next up, is the Tahini Dressing.

Tahini Sauce Ingredients in Food Processor

Blend all of the ingredients in food processor.

Tahini Dressing in Food Processor

Mix 3/4 cup of Tahini Dressing to the barley mixture. It’s then time to assemble the casserole! Start with a layer of barley.

Barley Layer

Then add a layer of Tahini Dressing.

Tahini Dressing Layer

Then add a second layer of barley.

2nd Barley Layer

And a final layer of Tahini Dressing and put the casserole in the oven.

2nd Layer of Tahini Dressing

While baking, mouth watering aromas will fill your home. And after 35 minutes, the Barley Casserole is done!

Barley Casserole Out of Oven

Dishes like this ensure that I never miss meat. Dig in and enjoy!

Barley Casserole in Bowl

Vegan Barley Casserole

Ingredients

Barley Layer
2 cups hulled barley
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
5 tablespoons shoyu
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ cup tahini dressing (see below for recipe)
Tahini Dressing
¼ small onion, diced
½ cup tahini
1 tablespoon shoyu
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of paprika
⅛ teaspoon dried basil or ½ teaspoon fresh basil
pinch of dried oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup water

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350
Boil 3 cups of water and add barley.
Cook until tender (about 55-60 minutes)
Add olive oil to saucepan and saute onion and garlic
Add carroty, celery, shoyu, salt, basil, oregano, and garlic powder, until vegetables are tender.
Add barley to vegetable mixture and set aside.
Combine onion, tahini, shoyu, garlic powder, paprika, dried or fresh basil, dried oregano, and water to food processor for tahini dressing
Mix ¾ cup Tahini Dressing to barley mixture
Transfer half of the barley mixture to a 8 x 12 baking dish
Drizzle half of the Tahini Dressing on top of the barley mixture
Add the other half of the barley mixture on top of the tahini layer
Drizzle the other half of the Tahini Dressing on top of the second barley layer
Bake uncovered for 35 minutes

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My Favorite Holiday Barley Casserole