Cracked Barley Spring Salad with Asparagus

Springtime in Europe means asparagus season is upon us. When we lived in Germany, it was 90% white asparagus (also delicious, but needs to be handled a bit differently), but here in Sweden I've seen mostly green. Green asparagus makes a terrific salad ingredient - blanched and shocked to stop the cooking, it retains its fresh flavour and tender-crisp texture beautifully.

I accidentally bought cracked barley (aka barley grits) instead of pearl barley, whilst navigating the aisles of a Swedish supermarket. Relatively undaunted, I carried on with using it in different ways, from plain side dish to jambalaya, to salad. Salad was the clear winner here. You could use whole pearl barley instead, or even couscous or quinoa or bulgur, if that's what you've got on hand. Similarly, you could swap out the chickpeas for white beans, if the fancy takes you.

While the salad is a complete vegan meal in itself, we had some eggs to use up, so I made devilled eggs with feta as a topper. You could also add crumbled feta into the salad itself, if you wanted the extra protein without the extra effort.

Double the recipe if you like - it will keep well in the fridge, and make a terrific work/school lunch.

Cracked Barley Spring Salad with Asparagus

Serves 2

1/2 cup cracked barley
115 grams drained, cooked chickpeas (about half a 400 gram can)
1 scallion
10 spears green asparagus
8 cm English cucumber
2 - 4 tablespoons lightly chopped dill

Dressing

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed

Lemon wedges for squeezing (optional)

Cook the cracked barley according to directions. I used 2:1 (water:barley), bringing the mixture to a full boil and then covered tightly and reduced the temperature to low heat to cook for 35 minutes, followed by 10 minutes resting off the heat before opening the lid.

While the barley cooks, you have plenty of time to drain and rinse the chickpeas and prepare the vegetables and dressing. If you find tinned chickpeas have a metallic flavour, try rinsing them with boiling water, and then draining thoroughly.

For the asparagus, trim the woody end from the stalk and slice them on the diagonal into bite-sized pieces. Bring a pot of water to the boil, and blanche the asparagus pieces for no longer than 2 minutes, or until just tender when pierced with a fork. Drain immediately and plunge into cold or iced water to stop the cooking process. Leave them in the cold water (replace the water if it gets warm) while you make the dressing.

For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients and beat vigorously with a fork or whisk until you have a smooth emulsion. Set aside until ready to use.

You can also add the dill into the dressing, but for some reason I usually add them separately. Either way, remove the heavy stalks from the dill and give it a rough chop. Slice the scallion finely on the diagonal and set aside.

Slice the chunk of cucumber into quarters, lengthwise. Stand each piece on its end to easily trim away the seeds with your knife, before dicing the cucumber flesh into small pieces. If you have a field cucumber, you will need to remove the skin as well, which you should do first off.

Once the cracked barley has finished cooking and resting, remove the lid and stir through with a rice paddle or fork to fluff up the texture and keep it from clumping. Then, add the dressing to the still-hot barley, and stir through. The hot barley will soak up the dressing very quickly, and it will help separate the grains a bit more. Drain the cooled asparagus, and add to the barley, along with the chickpeas, cucumber, scallion, and dill.

Gently mix everything together, and turn out of the cooking pot into bowls or a fridge-friendly sealable container. (You can serve it still slightly warm, or chill first.) Serve with extra lemon wedges for squeezing over individual portions.



This keeps beautifully in the refrigerator for a few days, and makes an excellent packed lunch or light supper.