Barley Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Feta & Pine Nut

This simple salad is adapted from a recipe illustrated in Delicious magazine. It is excellent for a summer meal or picnic. To prevent the rocket from wilting, eat it fresh. But don’t worry if you have leftovers as the flavours only improve the next day. Barley is full of viscous fibres and lowers your cholesterol level.

Salad

• 1 cup pearl barley
• ⅓ cup pine nuts
• 12 whole kalamata olives
• 250 g punnet cherry tomatoes
• 100 g rocket
• 100 g feta, crumbled or cut into small cubes

Dressing

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh herbs e.g. basil, parsley and mint

Method

1. Place barley in a saucepan, rinse well with tap water then drain.  Add 1.5 L (6 cups) water, cover with lid and bring to the boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until the barley is just tender.  Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process, then drain. 
2. Dry toast the pine nuts in a non-stick pan for a few minutes until they become golden brown.  Put aside.
3. To make the dressing, place all required ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well.
4. Place the pine nuts, cooked barley, olives, tomatoes (cut some of them in halve to allow more juice to flow), rocket and fetta cheese in a large mixing bowl and pour over dressing.  Toss gently to combine.
5. Serve in bowls with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Serves 4

Tips

• Save time by using a pressure cooker – add 3 cups of water to the barley and cook under pressure for 5 minutes.
• The Dodoni brand of fetta (made from sheep and goats milk) is one of the tastiest.

Per serve: energy 2222 kJ (529 Cal); protein 12 g; fat 36 g; saturated fat 7 g; cholesterol 17 mg; carbohydrate 40 g; fibre 9 g; calcium 155 mg; iron 3 mg