Barley is a nutritious whole-grain and makes a delicious salad. In this recipe you may replace the roasted beetroot and carrots with leftover, roasted veg. The dressing in this salad pulls the dish together and perks it up to extra tasty!
250ml pearl barley
750ml water
10ml stock powder
about half an English cucumber, diced
one red onion, diced
a handful of basil and mint, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
about 125ml roasted beetroot, chopped
about 125ml roasted carrot, chopped
125ml pomegranate seeds
Dressing:
60ml lemon juice
zest of one lemon
60ml olive oil
60ml honey
5ml mustard
60ml mayonnaise
5ml salt
1 clove garlic, minced
Add the pearl barley, water and stock powder to a small saucepan and turn the heat onto high. Keep an eye on it as it gives off a lot of foam at first and can cause the pot to boil over.
When the water reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low so that it reaches a simmer.
Cover the pot with a lid and cook until the barley is done. The water should be absorbed after 25 minutes and the barley should have tripled in volume. It should be soft but chewy.
Take the saucepan from the heat, fluff the barley with a fork and put aside to cool.
For the dressing:
Add all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk for about a minute or until the dressing is amalgamated.
Add the cooled barley to a mixing bowl and mix with the cucumber, onion, herbs, tomato, beetroot and carrots.
Drizzle half of the dressing onto the salad and give everything a good mix.
Add the pomegranate seeds to the salad and drizzle with a little more dressing.
Serve the salad with the extra dressing in a jug.
My Whisk and I 