I call this my Garden Salad because the majority of the ingredients are vegetables that I've grown in my garden at one time or another. Of course living on a boat I no longer have access to a garden, although I do grow herbs in little planters onboard.
As a twist you can substitute the feta cheese with Mozzarella or any other cheese that you may prefer. I deliberately left onion and garlic out of the dish as an experiment to see whether I could produce a tasty salad dish without either of those strong flavors. I habitually add onion and garlic as staples to most of my vegetable and salad dishes, and raw onion can leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth for some time after a meal. So this dish was very much an experiment, it turned out to be really delicious, fresh and filling with great textures. The softness of the eggs, crunch of the celery and pecans, sweetness from the dates, freshness from the tomatoes and spinach, and earthy flavors from the asparagus and green beans, worked really well, the combination of flavor and texture was divine.
This salad makes enough for 8 people as a light lunch, or 4-6 people for dinner.
Ingredients
1 cup Pearl Barley
3 cups Vegetable Stock
6 Asparagus Spears
12 Green Beans, stems trimmed
4 Free Range Eggs
6 Medjoul Dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
I Red Bell Pepper, julienned
2 cups Spinach (or Baby Kale)
2 Celery stalks, chopped
3/4 cup Pecans, Toasted
Handful of Cilantro, roughly chopped
4 oz Feta Cheese crumbles
Balsamic Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a medium size saucepan, add the pearl barley, place the lid on the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 30 - 35 minutes, then drain any liquid left in the pan, (most of it should have been absorbed) and set aside.
In a large saute pan bring about 1" water to a boil, add the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and plunge the asparagus into a bowl of ice water for 1 minute, to stop the cooking and retain the color drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil, and add the green beans, cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and plunge the green beans into a bowl of ice water for 1 minute, to stop the cooking and retain the color drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
In a medium size saucepan, bring 1" of water to a boil. Add the eggs one at a time carefully not to crack the shell, (the water should come about 1/4 way up the side of the egg, as you are steaming not boiling) replace the lid and continue to steam the eggs at a gentle boil for exactly 7 minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and plunge into ice water for 1 minute to stop the cooking. Remove from the ice water, peel the eggs and set aside.
To assemble
In a large salad bowl add the rest of the ingredients except the balsamic vinegar, oil, salt & pepper, add the pearl barley and toss to combine.
Cut the asparagus spears and green beans into 2" lengths, and add to the salad bowl, drizzle over the balsamic and oil, grate the salt and pepper (to taste) over the salad and toss well to combine coating the vegetables with the oil & vinegar.
Slice the eggs in half and place yolk side up around the edge of the salad.
Serve with slices of a freshly baked baguette drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
Enjoy :)
