June 14, 2009

Lemon Herb Barley Salad





This barley salad is very simple, but tastes fresh and vibrant. It's a good side dish for hot summer days, as it's served cold. This recipe makes a lot, so you may want to half the amounts.

You can use any kind of barley, but I used hulled barley because it has a bit more chew than pearled barley, and it's a little healthier too. I cooked my barley in a rice cooker, after soaking it for an hour, with the ratio of one cup barley to two cups water.



Ingredients:
-6 cups cooked barley (approx. two cups dried hulled barley)
-1/3 cup sorrel, finely chopped
-1/2 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
-4 T. olive oil
-1/2 t. salt
-juice from 1 lemon


Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Chill for an hour to allow flavors to marry.
3. Serve chilled.


I used sorrel in this recipe, because I have some growing in the garden, but if you can't find any you can leave it out. Since sorrel has a lemony flavor, you may want to add more lemon juice to make up for the loss.

Here is a picture of the pot of sorrel I have growing. Not only does it taste good, but I think it's pretty too!



5 comments:

Christine said...

I've never had sorrel before, now I'm curious to try it!

Rachel said...

Actually, I'd never tried sorrel before I grew it this summer. It came with a few other greens in a pack of "healthy greens" that I bought for the garden, and I just stuck the sorrel in a pot. I had no idea how to use it, so I had to look it up online. :)

It has a lemony tang which is really tasty. I think I'm going to try and make some sorrel soup later!

Ashley said...

Yay, I'm glad one of us is keeping her recipe blog updated! That looks good. I should try some barley recipes.

Millie said...

That looks real good. I have never had sorrel but I'll ask the owner of Nature's Bin to see if they carry it. Nature's Bin is a complete health, veg and vegan market here in Cleveland. You can check them out online too. Thanks Rachel. I posted an asparagus recipe that is so easy and it is good. Try to check it out.

Amy said...

Everything. On. Here. Looks. Amazing.