As I’ve mentioned here before, I was a vegetarian for seven years, from the age of 14 until sometime during my 21st year. My parents were supportive, though Mom’s rule was that she was still going to make one thing for dinner, and if I couldn’t cobble together enough of a meal for myself from what she was serving, I’d have to do my own cooking. I guess it makes sense that I really started to develop my kitchen skills during that time.

I got myself a copy of the Moosewood cookbook, of course, but the book that some of my favorite recipes came from was Diet for a Small Planet. There was a casserole in there that I absolutely loved, and for a while I think I made it weekly. It was great fresh from the oven, but just as tasty at room temp for a meal on the fly, and it combined favorite foods like rice and cheese with the exotic-to-me-then Swiss chard, which would become one of my staples.

Heidi’s recent post about her favorite mushroom casserole reminded me of that recipe, and though my well-worn copy of Diet has long since disappeared, I thought I’d improvise, combining elements of that old casserole recipe with some from Heidi’s dish. Besides, I had a big bag of beautiful Wishing Stone mushrooms just begging to be used up, and mushrooms and chard are one of my favorite pairings.

I stemmed the mushrooms and chopped both stems and caps into chunky pieces, then sautéed them in a mix of butter and olive oil until they were browned and tender, adding a bit of salt and dried marjoram for seasoning. When the mushrooms were nearly done, I added my chard, cooking the thinly sliced stems for a few minutes first before adding the shredded leafy ends.

I wanted something a little heartier than rice as the base for the dish, so I cooked up about a cup of pearled barley until it was tender but slightly underdone. I wasn’t quite sure what to do about the creamy base, since we had neither cottage cheese nor sour cream in the fridge, so I added 8 oz. of cream cheese into the still-warm barley, along with an egg beaten with about a half-cup of heavy cream. I added a cup or so of really sharp cheddar, grated, reserving a bit more for the top of the casserole. I folded everything together until the cream cheese was melted and the mixture well combined, then set it aside.

At this point I added the creamy barley mixture to the mushrooms and chard, and stirred until the veggies were pretty evenly distributed throughout. I figured I’d bake the whole thing right in the iron skillet I had cooked the veggies in, so I smoothed out the top, sprinkled on the remainder of my grated cheddar, gave it a dusting of freshly grated parm for good measure, then covered it with foil and put it in the oven. I baked it at 400 for 20 minutes or so, then removed the foil and let it go for another 10. We had a simple salad of tender young leaves on the side with a perky Meyer lemon vinaigrette, which complemented the earthy casserole nicely.

I’ve been off the mark for the last week as far as dinners go. The change in the weather here came on harder and faster than I had anticipated, leaving me in a considerable amount of pain, and while I cobbled together a few decent meals last week, none of them really lived up to what I hoped they would be.

So when the soup I was working on last night looked like yet another disappointment midway through the cooking process, I was annoyed. I had envisioned a rich and chunky roasted tomato soup, but the volume of tomatoes I roasted was too small for the amount of liquid I had simmering away on the stovetop. Inspiration struck, though, in the form of a container of leftover cooked barley hanging out in the fridge. I often cook extra when I make beans and grains like this – they’re good for quick, savory breakfasts, alone or topped with an egg, or, as here, as a last-minute addition to a soup or stew. The barley was just the thing to give my rustic soup the right texture, and you can never go wrong with adding another helping of a whole grain to your day.

The soup was built on a foundation of shallots, chopped and softened in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt. I added a spoonful of Pimenton de la Vera, stirred it through and let it get toasty, then added a splash of dry vermouth, the liquid from a big can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, and a pint of homemade chicken stock (you could, of course, substitute veg stock or even water here). As for the tomatoes that had been in the can, those were roasting in the oven at 450 degrees, halved and sprinkled with salt, dried marjoram, and a drizzle of olive oil, alongside a couple of peeled whole garlic cloves.

When the tomatoes were roasty and caramelized and the garlic meltingly soft, I pulled them out of the oven and crushed them gently with a potato masher before adding them to the soup. At that point, I added the barley (about 2 cups, cooked), let the soup cook for a few more minutes, tasted for seasoning, then served it up accompanied with a salad of mixed red leaf and butter lettuce and goat-cheese topped croutons. This may not have been the meal I had envisioned, but it was surprisingly good.

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I don’t generally bring politics up on this blog, but as you’re probably aware, we in the States have an election going on today. There’s a lot at stake, notably the right of friends to continue to have their marriages recognized as legal and valid, providing more humane living conditions for farm animals, and closer to home, the issue of preserving farmland and open spaces (that last link is an audio one). If you are eligible to do so, regardless of what your personal beliefs are, I’d urge you to get out there today and exercise your right to vote.

Yesterday was so beautiful all I could think about was sitting outside, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine and marveling at how seemingly everything around us is in bloom. We had thawed a large Cornish game hen that made the trip from Brooklyn with us, and we had planned to roast it, but the weather all but demanded that we grill instead.

Mike rubbed the bird with a mixture of salt, pepper, lemon zest and olive oil and grilled it over hardwood. My contribution to the meal was a combination of barley, beluga lentils, asparagus and pea tendrils, dressed with a little good olive oil and a copious amount of fresh lemon juice – tasty, but it got a tiny bit overcooked, and I think I would have preferred the texture if I had cooked the components separately. The hen, however, was juicy and succulent, with crisp skin and a lovely light smokiness that whispered “summer’s coming.”

Just a quick moment of pimping here… my latest piece is up at ChronicBabe.com – check it out.