This Ain't No Ordinary (April) Fool's Salad - It's got Barley Baby!

I recently discovered the versatility of Barley. It's a whole grain, healthier than plain white rice (which is a staple in my diet, I'm afraid) and I am slowly learning to incorporate it in my cooking. Until now I've only used it in soups as a substitute for plain ol pasta. 

This morning I was browsing through through the March issue of Cooking Light and came across this Mediterranean Barley salad. It sounded (and tasted in my head) so simple and fresh. I had most of the ingredients so decided to give it a go. And boy did it turn out goooooooooooooooooooooooooood.

Mediterranean Barley Salad

(adapted from March 2010 Cooking Light)-

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups water

3/4 cup uncooked pearl Barley

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp orange juice

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 Tbsp fennel seeds          (or 1 fennel  bulb chopped)

1/3 cup chopped parsley  (I didn't have this so skipped it)

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tomato, chopped

salt, pepper

8 pitted kalamata olives   (I substituted handful of green olives)

15 ounce can cannelini (white navy) beans 

1/4 cups walnuts  (I didn't have this so skipped it)

1/2 serrano chilli finely chopped 
1 tbsp dried oregano

Method

1.  Cook Barley until al-dente.  It takes about 20 minutes. I added a couple of veggie bullion cubes to flavour the barley.

2.  In a big bowl combine navy beans, barley, tomato, onion, olives, celery.

3.  Sautee the serrano chillies in a bit of oil to take out some of the heat.

4. Prepare the dressing by mixing in orange juice, lemon juice, dijon mustard, EVOO, fennel seeds, serrano chillies, salt and pepper. Give the mixture a good whisk.

5. Add in the parsely and walnuts and oregano and eat up!!!!