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:
- 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- 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
- Place barley in a large bowl.
- Combine the cheese, oil, lemon juice, Pesto paste, garlic, salt and pepper; mix well.
- Pour over barley and toss to coat.
- Add tomatoes, zucchini, squash and olives; toss to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
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Reviews
-
I've been sampling different grains so was eager to try barley. I was surprised at how much my family enjoyed it. The barley was done, but still chewy and it made for a colorful salad. The salad has a pleasant zing from the lemon and the pesto added lovely flavor. (I used a jarred basil pesto.) Thank you for sharing your recipe! Made for Fall 2011 Pick A Chef. You were adopted! :-)
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
We have lived the last 5 years in a small West Texas town that we like to affectionately refer to as "Cow Town USA". There are more cows to people by like 50,000 to one. Really!! Not joking on this one.
My favorite cookbooks are local/regional cookbooks from all over the world, with an emphasis on ones published by women's groups, churches, and student associations as they tend to give a more local flair and cultural taste.
I also rely heavily on the old "red checked" Better Homes and Gardens for good old fashioned recipes and recipe conversions, substitutions and cook times for various items. I also use a cookbook published by our old electric company, SPS, for good ol' Texas Panhandle cooking.
I would love to go to culinary school someday. My DH says I'm the best non-"chef" chef he knows. Aaahhhh....ain't he just the sweetest...sigh.
I love cooking, of course. I love to learn new things in or out of the kitchen. I read, play crosswords and other puzzles, paint, crochet, cross-stitch and other needle work. I really love playing with polymer clay! I love to study religion and spirituality formally and would love to learn more and possibly take holy orders in the future.
We have 3 four-legged children that are like little floor sweepers when I cook. Don't have to worry about the troublesome food, they don't like them.
One of the things I hate is when you need a specialty ingredient and our little small town stores just don't know what you're talking about. We now have a Walmart, so I have access to a wider variety of produce and ingredients. It is really nice. I could hardly stand it when I would ask our grocer about leeks and he'd point me to the green onions. We had some discussions about the difference let me tell you. Not to worry anymore! Walmart has them all the time.
