small yellow bowl on a blue striped napkin with broccoli, barley and olive salad

A fresh an hearty whole grain salad full of bright flavours from olives and sundried tomatoes. This salad is perfect for making ahead and keeps for several days.

Cook Time1

Total Time1

Servings: servings

Calories: 295kcal

Mediterranean

Salad

Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley salad is a great way to get whole grains into your life. Full flavour from sundried tomatoes and olives, this dish may change your mind about barley. This barley salad can be made ahead of time for easy and healthy lunch salads for busy weeks.

Eat Your Greens is like the unofficial kitchen motto around here. My kids would probably tell you I say it far too often...."Eat something green." "Did you eat something green today?" "Where is the green on your plate?" "I'm not kidding, if you eat nothing else, eat the green stuff."

Green 24/7 the new cookbook by Jessica Nadel has quite literally fallen into my lap and the timing feels serendipitous. Jessica is behind Cupcakes and Kale, one of those blogs where I do my best internet lurking. Every recipe in this book, from breakfast to dessert, includes some sort of greens - even the cookies. (Umm, yes, on my baking list for this weekend).

I don't really consider this a New Year's resolution thing, but the beginning of January just feels like the right time to start fresh. New running plans, new goals, new shoes, clean closets, clean food....

So today I'm sharing something simple. Something that fits with how I feel like eating right now.

Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad

This broccoli and barley salad is not the most complex or outrageous recipe in this book. I mean, this is not a cookie made with spinach! Nope, so I kinda feel like I should explain my choice.

I love this salad. We need more recipes like this in our lives. Let me tell you why...

First - It's January around here and the leafiest of greens are either just not available or available but not so great. Broccoli is an awesome option and so underrated. Fiber. Protein. There is so much potential here. Broccoli needs to be liberated from "steamed on the side."

Second - this fill-you-up salad is made, to be made ahead of time. The veggies stay crunchy for a couple of days. You can easily make this a meal salad or serve it on the side. And it is portable - perfect for packed lunches. Done.

Third - my kids liked it. Yep. The Kiddos took some in their lunch too. And this was way more exciting than carrot sticks. Let me tell you. Or rather, my kids told me...

Fourth (because I just realized I'm not done yet) - you probably have everything you need in your pantry to make this salad. Sure, I tend to overstock my pantry (I like to consider it well-stocked) - a jar of olives - yes, a jar of sun-dried tomatoes - yes, barley - yes...and a bunch or two of broccoli to serve on the side with dinner during week - yes.

Am I right? I love that Jessica's recipes are amazing and fresh and healthy dishes that don't require a special trip to the store with a list of things I would never remember to buy otherwise. I made this on a Tuesday evening, with stuff I had on hand, no last-minute trip to the store, no planning ahead. It's possible. So do it.

Notes about the ingredients

Barley - use pot or pearl barley. Doesn't matter. The instructions below assume you are using pot barley. If you use pearl barley cooking time will be a bit less - so use the cooking instructions on the package for best results.

Sun-dried tomatoes - I like the kind packed in oil in this recipe. It is a small quantity and the oil-packed sundried tomatoes have good flavour and are soft and tender. Drain the excess oil but don't be obsessive about it, the little bit of oil clinging to the tomatoes will contribute to the dressing.

Black olives - black or kalamata will work. Black olives are a bit more earthy and oily tasting. Kalamata will add more tang if you prefer that.

📖 Recipe

Average rating: 5 stars

Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad

A fresh an hearty whole grain salad full of bright flavours from olives and sundried tomatoes. This salad is perfect for making ahead and keeps for several days.

Cook Time1

Total Time1

Servings: servings

Calories: 295kcal

Ingredients

I cup pot barley rinsed
3 cups water
2 cups broccoli chopped
3-4 kale leaves stems removed and sliced or chopped
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil drained and sliced
½ cup black olive pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-½ tablespoons lemon juice
salt and black pepper

Instructions

Add the barley and the water to a medium sized sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until water is absorbed and barley is tender. Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork and allow to cool.
I cup pot barley, 3 cups water
While the barley is cooking bring pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute. Drain and then immediately plunge into ice water. Let the broccoli sit in the cold water for a minute to complete cool then drain and pat dry.
2 cups broccoli chopped
Stack the kale leaves and slice into ribbons
3-4 kale leaves
Whisk together olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2 tablespoons olive oil, 1-½ tablespoons lemon juice, salt and black pepper
In a large mixing bowl add barley, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and kate. Pour dressing over salad and toss well. Serve
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, ½ cup black olive

Notes

This recipe calls for pot barley. If you only have pearl barley on hand, it doesn't matter and won't impact the recipe. Just adjust the cooking time - o use the cooking instructions on the package for best results.

Calories: 295kcal (15%) Carbohydrates: 41g (14%) Protein: 9g (18%) Fat: 12g (18%) Saturated Fat: 2g (13%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Monounsaturated Fat: 8g Sodium: 334mg (15%) Potassium: 617mg (18%) Fiber: 12g (50%) Sugar: 2g (2%) Vitamin A: 4719IU (94%) Vitamin C: 88mg (107%) Calcium: 163mg (16%) Iron: 3mg (17%)

Trish | The infinebalance Food Blog

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