Southwestern Black Bean and Barley Salad

I've had a thing for barley recently, and really love this Curried Chicken and Barley Salad, though my husband mentioned that he isn't a huge fan, so I went looking for another kind.  I came across this one on Pinterest and just had to try it.  I'm a huge fan of all these flavors together, so I'm hoping he'll be liking it too.  Now that the weather has started to warm up, I need some good salads to serve for dinner - instead of the soups I rely on in the winter months.

I made this to take for a potluck, so I haven't done much more than just taste it - to adjust for seasonings, of course - but the couple bites I had were amazing.  So good!

Southwestern Black Bean and Barley Salad
adapted from BetterRecipes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked pearled barley
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup frozen corn, rinsed
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup onion, diced small
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 handful cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• Juice & zest of 1/2 Lime

Directions:

1. Toss cooked barley, diced tomatoes, corn, black beans, red pepper, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro in large bowl, 
2. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, cumin and chili powder. Add lime zest and juice and mix thoroughly.
3. Taste and add more salt as needed. Refrigerate.

I used more barley than the original recipe called for.  Did I mention that I'm a huge fan?  I also used garlic powder and salt instead of garlic salt - mainly because I couldn't find the garlic salt when I looked for it.  I didn't think it needed any additional salt when I tasted it, but it's still a good idea to taste it and adjust according to your tastes.  I'm thinking this will be really good served with some tortilla chips, for some crunch and a little added salt.  Also, I bet this would be great wrapped up in a tortilla. With avocado.

Serve with some grilled chicken - with taco seasoning - maybe?  So many options.  He better like this stuff.

Related articles

• Southwest Chicken Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Chicken and Sweet Potato Chili

Southwest Barley and Black Beans (Slow Cooker)

I've made this a couple times so far, and it is really good.  I love all the flavors, and I especially love how easy it is.  Slow cookers are the best!  I usually mix all the ingredients in the slow cooker and refrigerate overnight - or longer - and then start it cooking the next day or whenever needed.  It's great for potlucks or taking food to share.  It would also make a great weeknight meal.

Southwest Barley and Black Beans(Slow Cooker)
adapted from 365 Days of Slow Cooking

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chicken (or turkey), chopped
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup pearl barley (NOT quick)
• 1 cup frozen corn, rinsed
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (red is prettiest)
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 2 cups chicken (or turkey) broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• salt & pepper
• juice of a lime
• 1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cook 4 hours on High, OR 6-8 hours on Low, until barley is cooked and tender.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste if needed.
3. Serve with desired toppings: cheese, sour cream, additional salsa, cilantro, avocado, and/or tortilla chips.

The original recipe called for less liquid and none of the veggies.  I just had to add some corn because it goes so well with chicken and black beans.  And then I had a pepper I needed to use and some onions and cilantro, and I just had to add those too.  And cilantro goes with all of it!  It looks really pretty too.  This is before I added the broth and salsa:

If you want to keep it really simple (not that this isn't simple) you can skip any or all of the added veggies and just use the chicken, barley, black beans, broth, salsa and seasonings.  Either way it will be good.  The seasonings are great.  I will definitely be making this again - in one way or another. (It depends on what I have in the house, but don't all recipes?)

Lamb and Barley Stew

This cool Fall weather has me thinking soup!  I made this a few weeks back, and we really liked it.  It makes a very satisfying meal served with a crusty bread, and the lamb gives it a distinctive flavor that really sets it apart.  Also, I love barley.  I only recently starting using it regularly - why did I wait so long? - and I adore it.

Lamb and Barley Stew
adapted from Nourished Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup barley, not quick
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup split peas
• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 10-12 cups water, plus more for soaking the peas and barley
• fresh spinach, washed and chopped (1 or 2 cups)

Directions:

1. Place barley in a small bowl and cover with about 1 cup warm water; stir in cider vinegar. In a separate bowl, cover the split peas with warm water. Leave both bowls in a warm room for 12 to 24 hours.
2. After the soaking time has passed, heat a large pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add ground lamb.  As lamb begins to cook, add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot, and cook until lamb is browned and vegetables soften, stirring often.  You may need to add a little butter or olive oil to keep things from over-browning or sticking to the pan, if your lamb is too lean.
3. Season lamb and veggies with thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Add your 10-12 cups water - depending on how thick you want your soup and/or if you want to serve it right away. 
4. Drain barley and split peas and rinse well; add them to the pot.  Bring the soup to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until barley, peas, and vegetables are cooked.
5. Add spinach to the pot; simmer for 7 minutes or until the spinach is wilted. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Time-saving tip:  Chop all the vegetables the day before or early in the day (when you start the barley and split peas soaking).  Store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator until you're ready to add them to the soup.

While you can serve this soup right away (with that crusty bread), it is better - like most soups are - if you make it one day and then reheat it the next.  If you want to serve it the same day you make it, try using the 10 cups of water instead of 12.  Your soup will be much thinner the first time you serve it, but it thickens up more each time it's reheated.  You know how soup is - it gets better and better every time you reheat it, until it's GONE.  (Time to make more!)

The original recipe called for a lamb shank instead of the ground lamb.  I inventoried my freezer yesterday and found that I have two lamb shanks - so I'm going to try it that way next time.  I also have a bunch of kale right now, for which I substituted spinach in my recipe.  I think I'm going to have to make this again.  Soon.  Just to see which way we like it best.  The beauty of soup - besides being a warm, comforting meal on a cool fall or winter day - is that you can substitute the ingredients you have and come up with something uniquely yours.

Curried Chicken and Barley Salad

It's time again for  Secret Recipe Club (Secret Recipe Club) reveal!  My blog assignment this month was Mellissa's blog A Fit & Spicy Life. Mellissa is originally from Wisconsin, and I lived there until a couple weeks ago, so we have that in common.  She also loves to try new recipes.  Oh, wow - Mellissa says she rarely makes the same thing twice, and with 1800+ posts on the blog, you can believe there are plenty of amazing recipes to choose from.

I kept thinking I had a recipe picked out, and then I kept looking - I could not stop - and kept finding more and more things I want to try.  Here's the short list:

• Curried Quinoa and Cranberry Salad
• Italian Egg and Pasta Scramble
• Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostada
• Bean and Feta Salad

I finally decided on this salad, which just happens to be Mellissa's latest recipe and the first one I saw when I visited her blog.

Curried Chicken and Barley Salad
adapted from A Fit & Spicy Life's Bombay Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

Salad

• 3/4 cup barley
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• Salt/Pepper
• 1 lb boneless chicken breasts
• 1 mango, diced (How to cut a mango)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds

Dressing

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• Salt/Pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook barley according to package directions then rinse with cold water and pour into large bowl.
2. Combine curry powder, sugar, salt/pepper,  and cumin.  Coat chicken with spices and grill until cooked through; 5-6 minutes each side. Allow to rest 5 minutes, and cut into bite sized pieces.
3. Toss  mango, cranberries, green onions, and sunflower seeds with barley.  Add chicken.
4. Whisk together lemon juice, honey, olive oil, curry powder, & salt/pepper. Pour over salad and mix lightly.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors blend. 

Serves 4

Yum! So many awesome flavors here - the curry, the tanginess of the cranberries, the sweetness of the mango...  We really, really liked this salad.  It's perfect for a cool summer meal, and very filling.  Mellissa's recipe called for Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend, which looks really good, but I couldn't find anything like it in my grocery store, and I didn't have time to get it from Amazon.  So I went with the 'or any grain' part of the recipe and chose barley.  One of our friends brought a barley salad to a potluck a few weeks ago, and it was so good.  I had never had barley in a salad or even thought about using it - and would not have thought of it for this if she hadn't brought that salad.  It is really good.

The only change I really made to this recipe (besides using the barley) is that I added more green onions.  I started out with 2 - the recipe called for 1 - but then I decided it needed at least 4.  They add that extra touch of color to the salad and a fresh, bright flavor.  (Pictures were taken with 2 green onions; I added more later.)

I also made Mellissa's Salmon with Chickpeas and Spinach - because there were so many great-looking recipes to choose from, I couldn't pick just one, could I?  My husband and my brother both thought there was "too much green" in this, but I thought it was wonderful.  The flavor of the salmon?  Amazing!  (You'll have to click the link to get the recipe.)

Be sure to check out A Fit & Spicy Life.  I'm sure you'll find a few recipes you'll want to try!

An InLinkz Link-up

Lentil Barley Soup

I found this soup recipe in my Sunday (or Wednesday) paper - at the same time I found the Sweet Potato Chickpea soup that we loved. 

Lentil Barley Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups lentils (about 16 ounces)
• 3/4 cup barley
• 8 cups broth (vegetable, chicken, beef, whatever you have or like)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1.  Heat olive oil in large saucepan (6 qt.) over medium heat; add onion, garlic and celery and cook until onion begins to soften and become translucent.  Add carrots and continue cooking 1-2 minutes; add seasonings (except salt) and stir to coat vegetables; allow to cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.
2. Add lentils, barley, and broth; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally until lentils and barley are tender. Add additional stock or water to reach desired consistency, if needed. Add salt to taste.

Alternate (original) Directions:
Place all ingredients, except salt (and olive oil - there was no olive oil in original recipe), in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 to 55 minutes, stirring occasionally until lentils and barley are tender. Add additional stock or water to reach desired consistency, if needed. Add salt to taste.

To prepare ahead: You can prepare the soup up to two days ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat when ready to serve.

Yes, I know the original directions sound simpler, and I'm sure the soup will turn out just fine following them.  I just think it adds some extra flavor to cook the vegetables in olive oil first, and to cook the seasonings with them for a couple minutes.  If you're in a hurry or just don't feel like messing with it - don't.  Just toss everything in and cook!

With most soups it is best to prepare ahead, cool, cover and refrigerate, and reheat before serving, but this is one you can serve right away!  It turned out really thick, so I'm thinking I might need to add additional water when I reheat it, but it was perfect tonight.   The flavors were just so good!  Part of the flavors come from whatever broth you use (I used half broth from a deer roast I had cooked and half turkey broth) - so if your broth is good, your soup will be good - but the seasonings in this are really good themselves.  I loved the texture - barley is one of my new favorite things!

I wasn't sure what to serve this with.  Soup usually calls for crackers, bread, biscuits, cornbread, something - but I wasn't sure what this particular soup needed.  I went with toasted whole grain sourdough, which was good, but I'm not sure this soup really needs anything.  It was good all on its own.

I definitely plan to make this one again!

Update: This soup really thickened up after being refrigerated, so I needed to add a cup of water when I reheated.  It also needed a bit of additional salt once the water was added.  I still think it's really good.  My husband said it was 'OK' so I don't think he's a huge fan - but he did eat it.

Turkey and Barley Chili

I haven't really used barley much, but I bought some recently thinking it would be a good addition to our diet.  It's supposed to be really good for you.  I was thinking along the lines of a beef barley soup, but there was a chicken chili recipe on the box that caught my eye.  I cooked some turkey wings and some black beans earlier in the week, so it seemed like a perfect time to try the recipe - with my own spin to it, of course.

Turkey & Barley Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 16 oz. tomato sauce
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup medium barley
• 2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-1/2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups cooked turkey

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in 6-qt. saucepan; add onions and garlic and saute while chopping celery and green pepper.  Add celery and pepper and continue to cook until very soft and starting to brown; add spices.
2. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and barley.  Over high heat bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add beans, corn, and turkey; increase heat to high until chili comes to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for another 5 minutes, or until barley is tender. 
4. If upon standing the chili becomes too thick, add more broth or water until chili is desired consistency. 
5. Serve with grated cheese and/or sour cream, if desired

The original recipe did not call for the onions, garlic, celery or green pepper - but it just didn't seem like chili without them!  Or at least not without the onions and garlic.  While I was adding vegetables, I figured celery and green pepper couldn't hurt.  I also added about twice as many beans as the original recipe asked for.  Again - chili needs beans! - and I had them.

I'm planning to take this for potluck on Sabbath, so I haven't actually tried it yet - except for a quick taste, which was really good.  I'm thinking that I will need to add a bit more water, or maybe another can of tomatoes when I heat it up, because it turned out pretty thick.  I'm thinking of either making cornbread muffins to go with the chili or serving it with tortilla chips.  I think either would be really good with this.

Related articles

• Butternut Chicken Chili (recipes.alwaysbcmom.com)
• Broke Bean Stew (a Biggest Loser Recipe) (dalailina.wordpress.com)