Mediterranean Barley Salad

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 2 1/4 cups vegetable broth or 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup pearl barley or 1 cup hulled barley
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato, cut up small
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 of a yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Recipe

• 1 cook the barley in the broth along with the chopped sun-dried tomatoes for about 30-40 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the barley is tender. allow to cool to room temperature.
• 2 mix the oil, vinegar and mustard thoroughly.
• 3 add the remaining ingredients to the barley mixture (green onions through feta cheese), stir, and then add the oil and vinegar mixture, stirring again.
• 4 add salt and pepper if needed for your taste.
• 5 variations:
• 6 •serve on a bed of torn romaine with some chicken for a main dish.
• 7 •add toasted pine nuts.
• 8 •use fresh tomatoes instead of sun-dried, if you have good tomatoes available.
• 9 •use fresh oregano (1 tbsp instead of 1 tsp) if you have fresh herbs available.
• 10 for vegetarian use only the vegetable broth.