Inspired by Mediterranean flavours, this lentil, pearl barley, roasted tomatoes lemony salad is a great lunch option and a great way to step up your salad game!
The steps on this recipe are very simple and you can swap ingredients to make it your own. This recipe can be served as a side dish or main dish, depending on how hungry you are and what you have in your fridge. You could have it as a side dish with some chicken or salmon, or add some chickpeas to bulk up as a main.
Seasonality Information
In this recipe the only fresh produce are the tomatoes and bell peppers. Both can be found in the supermarkets all year around but bell peppers season is from July to September and tomatoes May to October. This salad is very versatile. It is great as a cold salad in the summer when the vegetables are at its best or in winter served warm on a cold day.
Ingredient Swap Options
You can always swap the roasted tomatoes with sundried tomatoes or remove the roasting step and simply use raw tomatoes if you don’t have time to roast the tomatoes. In this recipe I think it works best with roasted tomatoes and since you need to cook the pearl barley and green lentils if you don’t use cooked lentils, then it makes no difference on your time to cook the roasted tomatoes!
Variations
If you are celiac or have gluten intolerance you could swap pearl barley for quinoa to remove gluten from the recipe. If you are vegan I would recommend to swap feta for vegan feta, avocado or just remove the ingredient. Feel free to add more vegetables if you have some vegetables lying around in your fridge and you are unsure what to do with them, carrots, courgette and aubergine cut in small pieces would go very well in the recipe!
Nutrition Information
The nutritional benefits of this recipe are the below:
- Low in fat
- Low in saturated fats
- Low in sugars
- Source of protein
Lentil, Pearl Barley and Roasted Tomatoes Lemony Salad
Description
This lentil and barley recipe with roasted tomatoes and peppers is very simple to make and very flexible. It can be served warm or cold and has a delicious lemony seasoning.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
Instructions
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Heat the oven to 180ºC. Halve the cherry tomatoes, spray with olive oil, and add one sprinkle of salt. Place in the oven for 35 minutes.
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Chop the bell peppers into 2 x 2 cm pieces and spread them on a separate oven tray. Place them in the oven for 20 minutes. You want the peppers to maintain some crunch.
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Rinse the green lentils under water in a sieve. Then add them to a pot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 35 minutes (check them after 25 min) with lid on. The lentils need to be soft but not mushy. Rinse them in cold water and set aside to cool down.
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Add the pearl barley into a different pot with water and bring to boil. Once boiling, cook for 30 minutes with lid on (again, check around 20-25 minutes). Rinse them in cold water and set aside to cool down.
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In the meantime prepare the dressing: squeeze 2 or 3 lemons to get 5 tbsp of lemon juice, then mix together the lemon juice, a minced garlic clove, mustard, dill, extra virgin olive oil and honey, and mix well.
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Once your ingredients have cooled down, in a large bowl mix together the pearl barley, green lentils, tomatoes, bell peppers, feta (crumbled) and dressing. Enjoy!
Note
Store in airtight containers in the fridge for 2-3 days.
