Barley Stew with Kale and Leeks

Whenever I get leeks in a share I automatically think soup.  Soups are easy to make in quantity for 5 and still have leftovers for lunch. Plus, it's been pretty cold here the past couple weeks. I have been making a lot of pureed soups lately, and I wanted to mix it up with a stew. When I saw this recipe from Bon Apetit magazine I was excited because it looked delicious and would use up a lot of ingredients I had (kale and leeks from this week), including making a dent in a huge bag of barley from a previous CSA. I decided to add some chicken sausage for additional flavor and protein.

Barley stew with leeks and Greens

1 cup barley-recipe calls for pearl barley but I had some purple hulless barley from the farm
2-3 leeks-white and light green parts only
1 bunch kale (or other dark green), stems removed, chopped
1 15 oz. can tomatoes
8 oz. crimini mushrooms
32 oz. vegetable broth
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 links chicken sausage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

 Start out cleaning the leeks (really well, they pick up a lot of dirt). Cut into roughly 1/2 in. pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pot, add the leeks and cook til tender (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and rosemary and the mushrooms.

 You could probably substitute dried rosemary here, bit the fresh rosemary really adds flavor. Fortunately, I have some trying to take over my garden.

Cook until the mushrooms brown. Add the tomatoes with their juice, let cook 1 minute. Then add vegetable broth and barley. Let the barley cook until almost tender.

While this is cooking, stem and roughly chop the kale.

When the barley is almost cooked, add the kale and the sausage. I used a precooked chicken sausage. You could use any sausage, but if it is not precooked you may want to cook it separately. Cook an additional 10 minutes until kale and barley are tender.

I served this with some sourdough bread. It was very filling and made a great meal. The barley was still a bit chewy, maybe because it wasn't the pearl type the recipe called for, but it added some texture. Seth pronounced it very tasty.