Mediterranean-Inspired Barley Salad

GROWING UP IN ASIA

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If you had grown up where I did, in South East Asia, where the tropical weather brought windy rains intertwined with humid sunny days, you would have learnt about the concepts of “cooling” and “heaty” even before starting to read.

Where I’m from, in the small island-nation of Singapore, as well as in our Asian neighbor countries like Malaysia, China and Hong Kong, the Chinese have a notion that the level of “heatiness” in our bodies is related to the balancing of the “yin” and the “yang”. Instead of being taught that food was classified into meat, vegetables, fruits and carbohydrates, I spent my formative years learning which foods were considered “heaty” or “cooling”.

In Chinese culture, “heaty” foods generate “heatiness”, which is generally associated with  feelings of irritability; short-temperedness; fever, constipation; flushed face or cheeks; dark-yellow urine; sore throats; nose bleeds; pimple or acne outbreaks; mouth ulcers; rashes and indigestion.  On the other hand, “cooling” foods, when eaten in excess, result in an overall feeling of weakness, lethargy, fatigue and restlessness.

Whether foods are “heaty” or “cooling” depends on their effect on our bodies, so it is important to have a balanced mix of both types of foods, to balance the “Yin” and the “Yang”. Because the constitution of each person varies according to lifestyle habits, each one of us has a different susceptibility to heaty and cooling effects of food.

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BARLEY

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been prone to sore throats, which reflects a higher level of “heatiness” in my body. As such, I’ve spent much of my life drinking barley water, which according to my grandmother and my mother, is supposed to have a “cooling” effect on me. Barley water is essentially the water that has been used to boil washed pearl barley, which can be taken both with and without sugar.

Given that I’ve associated barley with barley water all my life, it came as a shock to me that the barley grain can also be eaten, and that it is used widely in Western food culture in salads!

I was first introduced to barley in salads when my friend Min made her lemongrass salmon with barley salad. It was a complete eye-opener.

I swear I haven’t been this intrigued by a grain as I was with barley, and so began my search for barley in Argentina. I didn’t realize that this grain was so easily available here. Once I found it, I couldn’t wait to see what crazy concoctions I could come up with.

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MEDITERRANEAN-INSPIRED BARLEY SALAD

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The first of my barley adventures resulted in a surprisingly practical and colorful salad – inspired by the colors of the Mediterranean (which I so badly miss) and the fruits so often associated with it.

Cooked barley has a nutty flavor and also possesses a chewier texture than rice, which makes it a lovely alternative in salads, stir-fried food and risottos (yes! I’ve actually seen barley risotto recipes online! But let’s talk about it when I actually get down to making it).

Once the barley has absorbed the water used to cook it, it almost quadruples in size, and is a plump grayish-brown white.

Using as many colors as possibly available, I created a salad by tossing these barley grains together with sliced red onions, diced green and yellow peppers, and cherry tomatoes, adding  a dash of salt, then drizzling them in fresh lemon juice and fragrant extra-virgin olive oil.

The amazingly refreshing colors were a sight for tired eyes; the unique flavors of each ingredient combined to create an exotic sweet, spicy and sour taste; and the contrast in textures which I sought – chewy, crunchy and juicy – all made eating this salad a truly delightful experience.

MEDITERRANEAN-INSPIRED BARLEY SALAD
(Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as an appetizer or side)
Inspired by Foodland Ontario’s Barley Greek Salad recipe

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup of uncooked pearl barley
2) 3 cups of water
3) 2 medium-sized bell peppers (preferably in green and yellow)
4) 1 medium-sized red onion
5) Juice of 1 lemon
6) 1/4 kg of cherry tomaotes
7) Salt to taste
8) 5-6 tablespoons of olive oil

Steps:

1) Bring the water to a boil in a large pot
2) Once water is boiling, add the uncooked pearl barley and bring to a boil again
3) Once boiling, reduce heat to minimum and cover pot leaving small gap, cooking for 20 minutes (or until barley has absorbed all the water)
4) Fluff cooked barley and let it cool
5) Wash cherry tomatoes, dice bell peppers and slice red onion very thinly
6) Squeeze lemon to get juice
7) In large bowl, put cherry tomatoes, diced bell peppers, sliced red onion and cooked barley together
8) Sprinkle salt, pour lemon juice and olive oil over and mix together

Fresh cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, red onion, lemon, uncooked pearl barley:

Once water is boiling, add the uncooked pearl barley and bring to a boil again:

Once boiling, reduce heat to minimum and cover pot leaving small gap, cooking for 20 minutes:

Fluff cooked barley and let it cool:

Wash cherry tomatoes, dice bell peppers and slice red onion very thinly:

In large bowl, put cherry tomatoes, diced bell peppers, sliced red onion and cooked barley together:

Sprinkle salt, pour lemon juice and olive oil over and mix together: