What's in the fridge?

Did you know gladiators were called “barley men” because they ate so much barley. They were mostly vegetarians! So if you think vegetables are for weaklings, think again!

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This salad has a base of barley and then is topped with some Mediterranean accents to make it fully plant-based. Get creative and add what you like. Here’s some ideas! 

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Servings: 4

• 2 cups cooked barley (or quinoa to save time)
• 1 cup thinly sliced, loosely packed kale
• ½ cup cooked cannellini or chickpeas beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut in strips (use veg peeler)
• 5 to 6 pitted Kalamata olives, sliced in half
• 1 cucumber, cut into small dice
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• ½ red onion, sliced
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsp. honey (optional)
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. cracked black pepper
• 3 to 4 basil leaves, sliced thin

Make the dressing by combining the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and honey, if using. Shake up in jar or whisk in bowl. Put ½ of the dressing on the kale and massage kale with hands for a couple minutes to tenderize it. 

Arrange other ingredients in a serving bowl. Then, dress with remaining dressing. Enjoy. amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit0”; amzn_assoc_search_bar = “true”; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “chefjoannas20-20”; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”; amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”; amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”; amzn_assoc_region = “US”; amzn_assoc_title = “My Amazon Picks”; amzn_assoc_linkid = “ba45228607c5345c81cd7852e161db2a”; amzn_assoc_asins = “B000QODRF0,B00LGLHUA0,B0161EG5IE,B076ZR57RR,B014CZMPZG,B01M71MZ5B,1426218486,1426220138”;  

Adapted from The Blue Zones Cookbook pg. 262