Barley Salad

In my quest to find alternatives to pasta salads (trying to live on the low glycemic index), I found some grain recipes, and many call for tabbouleh. We have a hard time finding it or bulgar wheat. A little unbelievable to me with Arrowhead Mills down the street, but I digress. I decided to try to use barley and this is one of my recipes. I took it to a 4th of July Party and everyone loved it. I hope you do too. Time does not include the barley cooking and cooling times. As a side note, my husband loved it, but thought I could have made a bit more dressing. If you can't find concentrated Pesto paste (NOT pesto in the deli, but the paste) use 1/2 tsp dried basil.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Serves: 12-14

Ingredients

• 4  cups  cold medium pearl cooked barley
• 1⁄2 cup  shredded parmesan cheese
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil or 1⁄4 cup  vegetable oil
• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice
• 2  tablespoons  amore concentrated pesto sauce
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 4  cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1  zucchini, chopped
• 1  summer squash, chopped
• 1 (6 ounce) can  sliced black olives

Directions

1. Place barley in a large bowl.
2. Combine the cheese, oil, lemon juice, Pesto paste, garlic, salt and pepper; mix well.
3. Pour over barley and toss to coat.
4. Add tomatoes, zucchini, squash and olives; toss to combine.
5. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.