Bulgur (or Barley) and Mixed Mushrooms with Zhoug

 

This combination of earthy mushrooms and chewy bulgur makes a tasty vegetarian meal or a flavorful side dish for meat-lovers. The mix of mushrooms adds nice depth of flavor, but what really makes the dish sing is the zhoug. I gave you the recipe for that two weeks ago, and you can find it here. Zhoug is like a zesty pesto made with cilantro, so if you’re cilantro-averse, regular pesto will be a good substitute. 

When I took the pictures, I forgot to get one of the finished dish before we gobbled it up. So now, if you look closely at the serving on the plate, you’ll see barley in place of the bulgur, and you won’t see the oyster mushrooms that appear in the ingredients picture. When we made the dish the second time, so that I could snap a photo of a serving on a plate, we’d run out of bulgur and also had to substitute white button mushrooms for the oyster mushrooms. Everything tasted just as good, though, and that experience proved the versatility of the dish.

Bulgur and Mixed Mushrooms with Zhoug

(adapted from The World in a Skillet by Christopher Kimball)

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 pound mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, and shitake, thinly sliced (If using shitakes, remove and discard the stems. They’re woody and tough and won’t soften with cooking.)

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup coarse bulgur (Barley is a good substitute for coarse bulgur, although you’ll have to adjust the liquid and cooking time accordingly.)

2 cups water

Zhoug

  

Directions

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet. Stir occasionally until onion is golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. 

Add to the skillet, remaining tablespoon oil, mushrooms, and salt. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until liquid released from mushrooms has evaporated and the mushrooms are browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to bowl with onions.

 

Add bulgur to the skilled and toast over medium, stirring often, for about 1 minute. Add the 2 cups water and bring to a simmer over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Reduce to low, cover, and cook undisturbed until water has been absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.

 

Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the bulgur with a fork, then stir in the onions and mushrooms and about 3 tablespoons zhoug. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve with remaining zhoug on the side.

 

  

Here's something we discovered on Thanksgiving - a dollop of zhoug on a deviled egg is astoundingly delicious! 

Zhoug is a beautiful green, too, like the green cover of Argyles and Arsenic, book 5 in my Highland Bookshop Mystery series.

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.