Barley Lentil Salad

This recipe is healthy, inexpensive and most importantly, delicious! What a great combination.

Barley Lentil Salad
4 cups water
8 cubes vegetable broth (I think this is about one cup)
1 cup green lentils**
1 cup pot barley**
1-2 tsp ground ginger
1-2 tsp garlic powder
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper
1/4 cucumber, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped (red onion is also good)
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1/8-1/4 cup feta cheese
Parsley, for garnish

For dressing:
Just less than 1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger
Salt and pepper, to taste

** you can use all lentils or all barley if you dislike one or the other.

1. Wash and rinse lentils and barley.

2. Place water, broth, lentils and barley in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 45-60 minutes, until soft but not mushy, adding more water if necessary. Drain and rinse with cold water. Remove bay leaf.

3. Place lentils and barley in a large bowl and allow to cool.

4. Add cucumber, tomato, chickpeas, onion and feta cheese (I didn't have any onion which is why it's not seen in the picture but it really does add a lot to the salad. And the chickpeas were frozen which is why they look like that). Mix.

5. For dressing, add all ingredients to a one cup measure and whisk to combine. Or, if you wish, you can also use any oil based bottled salad dressing. Greek feta with oregano, sun dried tomato and Italian work well.


6. Pour over salad and mix. Cover and chill in refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Serves ... a lot. This will make enough for us to eat with dinner one night and then in our lunches for a few days. It is a really nice summer salad to serve with any grilled dish or on its own.