- 1½ cups pearl barley
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup golden raisins
- Handful coarsely chopped cilantro
- 1 cup shelled pistachios, toasted and crushed lightly with a mallet (mine were already roasted and shelled from Costco)
- 6 ounces feta cheese
- 1 bunch of green onions, sliced thinly
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds (I bought mine frozen)
I cooked my barley in some organic low sodium "Better than Bouillon" vegetable stock to package directions (35 minutes for mine). I drained and laid it out on a baking sheet to cool. Wow, that was a LOT of barley (which is why I adjusted the recipe)!
In a bowl, I whisked the dressing together: olive oil, molasses, cinnamon, cumin, and S&P.
An initial taste told me it was tart, but I liked that - thought it would balance with the sweet raisins...
In the recipe, they did this like a cobb salad, all pretty in rows of the different ingredients over the barley. I just mixed mine up in a big salad bowl, ingredient by ingredient, finishing with the pomegranate arils. I stirred it up well after each addition.
If I was serving for company I would have did the pretty presentation on a platter. I checked for seasoning, drizzled some more olive oil over and served.
We really enjoyed this. Flavor was good with balance of sweet, tart and salty. I might like a jalapeno next time for the heat. My son said it tasted like curry, but that was just the cumin. Textures were great. The pistachios had nice crunch and barley has a nice to chew to it, all on its own. The green onions and cilantro really brightened it all. Glad I made this, it was really quite pleasing.
In a bowl, I whisked the dressing together: olive oil, molasses, cinnamon, cumin, and S&P.
An initial taste told me it was tart, but I liked that - thought it would balance with the sweet raisins...
In the recipe, they did this like a cobb salad, all pretty in rows of the different ingredients over the barley. I just mixed mine up in a big salad bowl, ingredient by ingredient, finishing with the pomegranate arils. I stirred it up well after each addition.
If I was serving for company I would have did the pretty presentation on a platter. I checked for seasoning, drizzled some more olive oil over and served.
We really enjoyed this. Flavor was good with balance of sweet, tart and salty. I might like a jalapeno next time for the heat. My son said it tasted like curry, but that was just the cumin. Textures were great. The pistachios had nice crunch and barley has a nice to chew to it, all on its own. The green onions and cilantro really brightened it all. Glad I made this, it was really quite pleasing.
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