Barley salad with olives, sun-dried tomatoes & artichokes

Ahh, grains. Who doesn’t love them?

Lately I’ve been thinking outside the pasta box, experimenting with less popular grains like red quinoa, barley and wild rice. They’re more interesting than plain  noodles or white rice and have a satisfying nuttiness to them.

This barley salad is a great way to use up whatever marinated goodies you have kicking around the fridge: black olives, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes. It would also be great with a can of tuna thrown in.

Do you have a favourite not-so-conventional grain you’d like to recommend? I’m always looking for knew ones to try!

Recipe: Barley salad with olives, sun-dried tomatoes & artichokes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup barley
• 2 cups water or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (marinated in oil), chopped
• 1/2 cup artichoke hearts (marinated in oil), chopped
• 1/2 cup olives such as Kalamata, pitted and chopped
• 1 handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Rinse the barley and place in a pot. Cover with the water (or stock) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until barley is cooked, about 40 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives and parsley. Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

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