Pearl barley is a great ingredient to use in salads as it works well at absorbing flavour from any dressing. This is a simple salad to make that resembles tabbouleh, it works great alongside harissa roasted aubergines and a side of creamy hummus for a great dinner spread.
Serves 4 & takes 40 minutes to cook
Ingredients
200g pearl barley
100g roasted almonds
1 aubergine, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large sweet potato, cut into bite-sized pieces
100g sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped (plus any oil from the jar)
25g coriander, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Squeeze of honey (or maple syrup)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C, fan setting,
2. Place the aubergine and sweet potato chunks onto a large baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, a pinch of salt and mix well, ensuring all of the vegetables get coated in the oil - if not, add a dash more. Cook for 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes and aubergines feel soft. Once soft, remove from the oven and leave to one side until needed.
3. While the vegetables roast, cook the pearl barley according to the instructions on the pack. Once cooked, drain any excess water and spoon into a large mixing bowl.
4. To the mixing bowl, add the chopped almonds, sun-dried tomatoes - plus 2 tablespoons of the oil from a jar (or 2 tablespoons of olive oil), the juice of 1 lemon, a squeeze of honey (or maple syrup), the chopped coriander and another pinch of salt. Mix well until everything comes together.
5. Once the roasted vegetables are cooked, mix them through the salad and spoon into a large serving bowl.