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    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Barley Salad with Tomato Avocado and Microgreens

    Published: Dec 7, 2019 Modified: Sep 2, 2020 By Sujata Shukla This blog generates income via ads. This post may contain affiliate links. PepperOnPizza may earn a commission for purchases made after clicking these links. View our disclosure policy for details

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    Green red yellow white Pearl Barley salad with tomato, avocado, microgreens, on two plates edged with blue and yellow flowered design. White napkin with orange polka dots on the left. https://www.PepperOnPizza.com

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This barley salad has been on my mind since I last had it, at The Bombay Canteen. The recipe here is inspired by their delicious Barley Jowar Salad which my grand daughter Natasha loves. The recipe in this post, however, is for a Barley Salad with Tomato Avocado and Microgreens, intended as a one dish lunch, filling and comforting in any weather.

    Bright green red and yellow Pearl barley tomato avocado salad with microgreens, on a plate edged with large blue and yellow scrolled design.

     

    A bunch of fresh vibrant green sunflower microgreens, bright cherry tomatoes and figs and avocado that both threatened to go overripe, had me putting together a salad for lunch today. Barley and pomegranate were on hand, and as I said earlier, the Canteen barley salad was asking to be made. My little balcony garden gave me the handful of salad greens I needed: green and red swiss chard and some romaine lettuce.

    Making Barley Salad with Tomato Avocado and MicroGreens

    1. Pearl Barley cooks faster than hulled barley and is less nutritious. It is not a whole grain. However it is rich in dietary fibre and minerals.

    2. Prepare the salad in the order listed in the instructions below, such as slicing the avocado last of all so that it remains fresh and does not brown. Make the salad dressing first, unless you already have some in stock. While the barley cooks, most of the preparation for the remaining ingredients can be done, and the salad can be put together quickly.

    3. Measurements are not significantly important in this recipe. Add more tomatoes, less figs or omit one of them all together. Keep the proportion of barley to other ingredients the same as in the recipe though.

    4. Other fruits may be substituted for figs, avocado, tomato, though of course the nutritional values would change accordingly. Raisins would go nicely in this salad.

    5. I recommend the Tahini citrus dressing for this barley salad. Or else a citrus hung curd dressing. A simple honey lemon dressing would be good too, but as I said, I would recommend one of the two above. Links are given at the end of this post, for salad dressings on this blog.

    Pearl Barley Tomato Avocado Salad with microgreens and with hung curd dressing spread on top on one side, in a bowl and with a pink and white checked napkin to the left, all on a dark brown background

    I've subscribed to a plan for microgreens delivered to my home every week, from Living Food, at Bangalore. They supply luscious fresh and green microgreens and these add flavour as well as 'up' the nutrition component of my lunch salads. Each week they send a different variety and I've been relishing the ones they have supplied so far: Broccoli microgreens, basil and now this week sunflower microgreens. Looking forward to what they have in store for me in the coming weeks! The sunflower greens were delicious in the barley salad with tomato avocado.

    Sturdy dark green fresh sunflower microgreens in a small cream coloured basket

    Step by Step Process For Making Barley Salad

    Process 1: Pear barley and curry leaves being sauteed inside a pressure cooker
    Process 4: Toasted Sunflower seeds
    Process 7: Add figs and tomato slices to the salad
    Process 2: Pearl Barley after being cooked in pressure cooker
    Process 5: Putting the Barley salad together: Greens and layer of barley and sunflower seeds on a plate
    Process 8: Adding the rest of the cooked barely to the salad
    Process 3: Cooked Barley spread on a plate so it doesn't stick
    Process 6: Adding pomegranate arils to the layer of barley
    Process 9: Finishing the salad preparation with pomegranate arils and sunflower microgreens

    Salad Dressings to pair with Barley Salad with Tomato Avocado:

    Tahini Citrus Honey Salad Dressing

    A round glass jar with a pale creamy yellow coloured tahini dressing with citrus and honey, flecked with black pepper powder, on a pale yellow background

    Honey Lemon Salad Dressing

    A glass bowl with yellow garlickly honey lemon salad dressing, speckled with black pepper Powder. A small bottle of golden honey seen in the background. All on a rainbow striped napkin

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    Persimmon Mozzarella Winter Salad

    Orange green and white persimmon, mozzarella and basil make up this persimmon mozzarella salad shown on a blue edged plated with a green and orange book on one side and a bowl of mustard balsamic dressing on the other

    Levantine Tabbouleh - Parsley Tomato Bulgar Salad

    A bowl of finely chopped red tomatoes, green parsley and beige bulgar wheat making up a Levantine Tabbouleh, the parsley bulgar tomato salad, on a green and white checked napkin, on an orange background

    Bright coloured barley salad with tomato, avocado, microgreens, on a plate with blue and yellow scrolled design. A white napkin with green stripes at top right corner

    Barley Salad with Tomato, Avocado and Microgreens

    Sujata Shukla
    Nutritious Pearl Barley Salad with Tomato, Avocado, Figs and Microgreens. With an option of an Citrus Honey Dressing or a Yogurt Citrus Pepper Dressing. Pressure cook the Barley. Easy to put together. Add pomegranates for more flavour and sunflower seeds for texture.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 35 mins
    Course Salad
    Cuisine Mediterranean
    Servings 2 Servings
    Calories 693 kcal

    Equipment

    • Pressure Cooker
    • Salad Spinner
    • Chopping Board and Knife
    • Small Pan
    • Zester
    • Colander

    Ingredients
      

    For Cooking The Barley

    • ½ cup Pearl Barley
    • 1 teaspoon Olive oil Olive oil/ Sunflower oil with mild flavours
    • 1 pinch table salt
    • a few curry leaves minced
    • 1 ½ cups vegetable stock Or chicken stock or Water

    For Toasting the Sunflower Seeds

    • 2 tablespoons Sunflower seeds

    For The Barley Salad

    • ½ cup A Citrusy Salad Dressing Click on the name for recipe link
    • 1 Avocado 1 cup avocado slices, diced small
    • 2 teaspoons Lemon juice For the avocado. See instructions below.
    • 30 Cherry Tomatoes 1 cup cherry / grape tomatoes halved or quartered
    • 1 Pomegranate ½ cup pomegranate
    • 4 Figs 1 cup ripe fig, sliced thin
    • 1 cup Salad Greens shredded
    • 1 cup Micro-greens
    • 1 tablespoon Raisins
    • 1 pinch table salt
    • 1 tablespoon Goat cheese optional

    Instructions
     

    To Cook the Barley

    • Instructions here are for Pearl Barley, as other types may have different cooking times and liquid (stock/ water) requirements
      Rinse and drain the Barley, drain and pat dry with a kitchen towel or salad spinner. Line the salad spinner with a kitchen towel to prevent the small grains from going out.
      Heat the pressure cooker and add oil. A mild flavoured oil such as olive oil or sunflower oil is recommended (instead of strong ones like coconut, mustard or sesame oils which would overpower the flavour of the ingredients).
      Add the dried barley, curry leaves (shredded/ minced) and salt.
      Saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
      Add stock/ broth/ water, and stir. Stock or broth would add flavour to the barley. Close the cooker and keep on high heat until the first whistle (about 3 minutes for ½ cup of barley). Reduce the heat to low/ sim and cook for 10 minutes or until 2 more whistles, whichever is earlier.
      Remove the cooker from the heat and release pressure so that the barley stops cooking. Once pressure is released, drain and spread the barley on two plates, so that the grains separate instead of sticking into clumps. Use two plates as it will help in arranging the salad later on and to give the barley more space.

    To Toast the Sunflower seeds

    • While the barley is cooking, heat a small pan and roast the seeds, without adding oil. Keep on high heat for about 45 seconds, stirring all the time, till the seeds darken and begin to crackle.
      Transfer immediately to a heat proof bowl to stop them from toasting further.

    Preparation

    • While the barley is cooking, we can get on with the rest of the salad ingredients.
      Rinse the micro-greens gently and pat or spin dry. They are usually delicate so handle them carefully. If there are long stems, slice away the stems and chop them small. These can be added to the salad too.
      Rinse and pat or spin dry the salad greens. Slice or tear them into bite sized pieces.
      Slice the cherry and grape tomatoes into halves or further quarters for large ones
      Slice off the top and bottom of the figs and slice them thin
      Extract pomegranate arils
      Zest the lemon to use for salad dressing or for another recipe. Slice and squeeze the juice.
      Dice the avocado into small even sized pieces, about 1 cm or smaller. Add lemon juice, stir gently, cover and keep in the fridge till required. The lemon juice will help the avocado remain fresh and not brown.

    To Make Barley Salad with Avocado and Tomato

    • I like to layer the ingredients for this salad as in the instructions below, so that every forkful has crunch and texture and bursts of different flavours. You could of course, just put the cooked barley in a bowl and add the sliced tomatoes, figs, avocado, add salt, toss gently and then add pomegranate arils, sunflower seeds and raisins, finishing up with the micro-greens.
    • Take two plates and place the shredded/ sliced salad greens across. Add the barley from one of the plates on which it had been spread, equally on each plate. Follow this up with some sunflower seeds and pomegranate arils.
    • Divide the tomato and fig slices between the two plates.
      Divide the avocado slices between the two plates.
      Now add the remaining barely to both salad plates.
      Sprinkle the balance pomegranate and sunflower seeds and the raisins on both plates.
      Finish up with the micro-greens. As an option, you can add some grated goat cheese or feta to the salad.
    • When ready to serve, add the salad dressing. I recommend the tahini citrus dressing (link in the post above) or a yogurt citrus dressing. Ensure there is salt in the salad dressing so that it can be uniformly added to the Salad. If you add salt to the salad, you will need to stir it in.
      Note: The nutritional facts below do not include those for the salad dressing, and do include goat cheese

    Nutrition

    Serving: 500gmCalories: 693kcalCarbohydrates: 115gProtein: 17gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 862mgPotassium: 1909mgFiber: 27gSugar: 45gVitamin A: 2236IUVitamin C: 93mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 5mg
    Keyword Avocado Tomato Barley Salad, Barley Salad, Microgreen Recipes, Pearl Barley Salad
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