I’m not sure where Meg found this (she’s the creative one, slash brilliant wedding photographer slash soon to be mum) but she brought it round for our roast lamb Easter Sunday dinner last year, and I’ve been making versions of it ever since! It’s a little bit high maintenance, but once you’ve got the knack of it you can pull it together fairly easily, and it’s so worth it! It goes beautifully with pretty much everything – roasts, lamb chops, on its own or with chicken flatties on the braai, (or bbq if you’re not from Southern Africa!)
You can choose to leave out the chilli if you think you can’t stand the heat (I won’t tell you to get out of the kitchen) BUT being a little chilli shy myself, I can honestly say that in this case it adds a delicious kick – and well, if you don’t agree, read my proviso and be done with it!
Delicious Easter (and anytime with anything) Barley Salad
Serves 6 | Preparation time 30 minutes | Cooking time 30 minutes
What you’ll need
250g / 1 cup pearl barley
1 cup diced butternut (roughly 1cm cubes)
Half a red pepper, core and seeds removed
1 red onion
1 ripe avocado
Half punnet cherry or rosa tomatoes
200g green beans
About 100g Mozarella or Feta
1 handful each of: Fresh mint, coriander, parsley and rocket
2 or 3 sticks of celery
1 chopped baby cucumber (regular English cucumber is also fine)
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp dried chilli or 1 fresh chilli de-seeded
8 Tbsp olive oil
8 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
What to do
The barley
Add 1 cup barley to 3 cups boiling water in a pot and simmer gently until the water has evaporated, about 30 minutes.
When the barley is cooked, rinse under luke-warm water in a colander and set aside.
The rest
Caramelise the onions – fry lightly in butter with a sprinkle of sugar until golden brown
Caramelise the tomatoes – Cut them in half and then grill them with a sprinkling of sugar
Roast the butternut at 180C for about 20 minutes
Steam or boil the green beans for just 3-4 minutes
Chop the beans, celery, cucumber, red pepper, avocado, mozarella/feta and herbs
In a nice large serving bowl toss all the ingredients together adding 1 clove chopped garlic
The dressing
In a pan heat the olive oil, chilli and remaining clove of garlic together
Remove from stove top and add the honey
When cooled, add the red wine vinegar and then stir the dressing through the salad.
Variations: This really is one of those dishes that you can add anything to, including chicken or bacon, avo, whole kernel sweet corn, asparagus, broccoli”¦ endless options. Also, it keeps really well in the fridge for up to 3 days afterward.
