Barley Grilled Vegetable Salad with Avocado Dressing

Finally the long awaited house-warming/ Christmas party at Sandra and Nico's was here. It was aptly themed "Bring your own food". Clever hosts. I thought I would bring some dessert but Francois said he was bringing something sweet. Gate also mentioned raspberry crumble. What a bummer. What can I bring that I could prepare in advance, ok to be served not warm?

I thought about making a fruit salad with maple-spiced nuts. Then I remembered there was a pack of barley that I cooked and freeze in the freezer a while back. Maybe I should make a big bowl of something like the Barley Pilaf, which I did and made a few changes to make the preparation easier. I remembered a avocado dressing that I made before, which Adrian liked and decided to use that as a dressing for the grilled vegetables. I added hard-boiled eggs for that extra protein for the vegetarian Yogis and Yoginis. There's also the roasted cashew for the texture and goat cheese for the distinctive taste.

The dressing ingredients would most likely make more than what you need. We used the extra as nacho dipping; worked as guacamole. For some reason, besides Adrian, I knew Sandra would approve the dish. She did. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone else did too! I don't get to cook for many people all the time. Sometimes I think Adrian may be just acting out to keep me in the kitchen. It's good to know others enjoyed my cooking too.

Ingredients:

For the dressing:
(you may not need all of this)

• 2 avocados
• 2 cups coriander leaves
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup sour cream
• sea salt to taste

1. Blend all the ingredients together to a smooth consistency. Set aside in the refrigerator.
   

For the barley:

• 2 Cups cooked barley
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Saute onion with a generous pinch of sea salt until translucent. Add garlic, fry until fragrant. Stir in cooked barley. Toss to coat. Set aside.

For the tomatoes:

• 10 Cherry tomatoes, halved
  
• 4 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 2 TB Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon each of cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, chili flakes and ground coriander
• Natural cane sugar

1. Preheat oven at 200C.
2. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar and spices. Toss in tomatoes to coat.
3. Arrange tomatoes on baking pan with cut sides up. Sprinkle sugar over tomatoes.
4. Bake until tomatoes are shrunken, about 20 minutes.

For the vegetables:

• 2 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into wedges
• 2 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cut into wedges
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1" thick coins
  
• 1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 Cup Balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Whisk all ingredients together. Toss in vegetables. Bake in oven until tender.
2. Remove from oven. Cut zucchini coins into quarters. Cube vegetables.

To assemble:

• 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into coins
• 1 cup cashew nuts, roasted and chopped
• Goat cheese, crumbled
• coriander leaves to garnish
  

1. In a large serving bowl, toss barley with 1/4 of the avocado dressing.
2. Top with grilled vegetables, tomatoes, eggs, cashew nuts and goat cheese. Drizzle more dressing over. Garnish with coriander leaves if you wish.
   

Roasted Stuffed Pumpkin

I never knew Thanksgiving is a American thing. I always thought it's one of those "Christmas", "Boxing Day" or "Halloween" things. So I did a little bit of googling and found out Thanksgiving falls on 26th November. So why did I make this now and not later? I guess I just wanted to try something different and Thanksgiving is just an excuses.

With apples, cranberries and nuts as ingredients, this dish has a festive taste to it. I know Adrian was very pleased with his "Malaysian Chinese wife making Thanksgiving dinner for her American husband in Thailand". It also answers his needs for Thanksgiving meal; it used to be "should I eat the turkey? Is it ok to eat just the stuffing?"

There's a lot of room to play with the ingredients. You can substitute cooked barley with lentils, toasted bread, long grain rice or seitan; raisin always works in place of cranberries; any types of nuts you have in hand; apple cider vinegar or dry white wine instead of lemon juice. Use a whole pumpkin if you are serving a small group of people. Cut a large circle around the stem and remove the seeds and stringy matter from the inside.

Ingredients:
(serves 2)
For the Stuffing:
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup mushroom, sliced
1/4 cup cooked barley
1/4 big apple, diced
Handful of walnuts and hazelnuts, chopped
Handful of dried cranberries
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano and sage, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1. In a sauce pan, saute onion with pinch of salt until fragrant. Add celery and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Add mushroom and cook for another 1 minute. Toss in cooked barley to coat evenly. Remove from heat and pour sauteed vegetable into a large mixing bowl.
   
2. Stir in apple, nuts, cranberries and beaten egg. Let the mixture sit for a moment.
3. Melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat until it bubbles. Stir in garlic and cook for one minute. Stir garlic butter over vegetable mixture.
4. Add herbs and spices, finish with lemon juice and blend thoroughly.

For the Pumpkin:

• 1/2 medium pumpkin, seeds removed.

1. Press stuffing into the shell until the pumpkin is completely stuffed.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut several small, slit-like pockets at different levels in the exterior wall of the pumpkin. Dab a pat of butter into each of these crevices.
3. Place the stuffed pumpkin in an oiled baking dish and cook, in a preheated 180C oven, for about 1 1/2 hour. (Cooking time may vary, depending on the thickness of the pumpkin's wall.) Pumpkin is ready when fork inserted comes in and out easily through the shell.
   
4. As the pumpkin bakes, the butter will trickle down from one side-slit to another, finally winding up in the pan. Collect the dripping and dressing.
   

For The Gravy:

• cooked dressing and dripping from the pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a small frying pan. Add the pumpkin drippings and stuffing, being careful to break up the dressing as it simmers. Then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly. When the flour starts to brown, gradually pour in the water a little at a time, still stirring continuously. Add soy sauce. As soon as the gravy thickens, remove it from the burner. This should make 1 cup of sumptuous sauce for spooning over roast pumpkin slices.

Barley Pilaf with Roasted Vegetable and Deep Fried Goat Cheese

This was an adaptation of one of the very first dishes I made when we moved into our current apartment. I made this dish many times in the beginning because it was very good and I wasn't that much of a skilled recipe-hunter then. Looking back, it was courageous of me to cook this pilaf as a novice - the recipe itself requires quite a lengthy preparation and proper planning ahead, to top that, I added roasted vegetables. I have tried this recipe with homemade labneh, cream cheese, and yogurt. This time I put deep fried goat cheese and cooked barley into it to come to this Barley Pilaf.

Want to know what Adrian said? "if there were a restaurant that serves this, I'd be eating there everyday" =) This is a really good recipe. It has a very intricate and complex taste: we like the compliment of lemony caramelized onions with chili-roasted tomatoes. There's also the subtle hint of mint with very bite. Although the deep fried goat cheese was good on itself but it didn't seem to fit in with the rest.

I prefer to make part of the dish in advance; the chili-roasted tomatoes (and optional roasted vegetables) may be served hot or cold over the pilaf. If you are going to make deep fried goat cheese, remember to freeze it before hand. Now, I'm going to try and make the whole thing looks as clear as possible by breaking the steps down into its elementary preparation. Have fun!

Ingredients and Methods:

For the tomatoes:
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 TB olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 - 1 1/2 tsp harissa*
2 tsp natural cane sugar

(*Instead of using harissa, I used a mix of cumin, coriander, chili flakes and cayenne pepper)
They can either be hot or at room temperature when you add them to the pilaf, so you could do this part in advance.

• Preheat oven to 150C.
  
• Mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, harissa, some salt and pepper, and pour this over the tomatoes. Turn them over, making sure they get coated, ending with them cut-side up. Sprinkle the soft brown sugar over the top and put in an oven. Cook for 30 - 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.
  

For the Roasted Vegetables: (optional)
1 red bell pepper, cut into wedges
1/4 large pumpkin, cut into cubes
1/4 C olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sea salt
This, too, can be prepared in advance.

• Preheat oven to 200C.
  
• Toss vegetables with olive oil, vinegar and sea salt.
• Roast until vegetables are tender and cooked through, tossing occasionally.
  
• Remove and cut bell pepper into cubes.
  

For the Pilaf:
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 C cooked barley
10 1/2 oz spinach, leaves only
leaves torn from a small bunch of mint, torn

• Saute chopped onion with a generous pinch of salt. When the onion is soft and translucent add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Tip the cooked barley into the pan, toss to coat evenly. Remove from heat.
  
• Immediately stir in chopped spinach leaves and let cooked in the hot barley.
  

For the onions:
2 onions, very finely sliced into ring
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp natural cane sugar
juice of 1/2 small lemon
sea salt and pepper

• Quickly cook the finely sliced onions in very hot oil till golden brown and crispy. For the last minute of cooking time, add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir this around and, once the sugar has melted and begun to slightly caramelize, add lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

For the Deep Fried Goat Cheese
Goat cheese, frozen and cut into bite-size
Flour
1 Egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs

• Place the flour, egg and bread crumb in 3 different bowls. Dip the cheese in the flour, then egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Place carefully into the hot skillet. Let cook about 2 minutes until brown on the bottom, carefully flip over & cook the other side another 2 minutes.

FINALLY!!!

Layer the different components in a broad, shallow bowl: tip in the barley + spinach, sprinkle on half the mint, then the tomatoes and roasted vegetables, then the rest of the mint. Now strew the onions on top, followed by goat cheese, and serve.

PHEW~!!

Barley Salad with Honey Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette

Barley has been used as foods for human and animals since ancient civilization, but also to make alcoholic beverages through malting. I remember reading from somewhere that Greek gladiators were fed barley prior to battle. They were hence also known as "eaters of barley". My wise husband thought that's probably because barley was dirt cheap.

As a type of whole-grain, barley has been shown to help in lowering blood cholesterol level, and stabilize blood glucose level, which may benefit diabetic. As a child growing up, I was always told to drink barley water during hot days. It was conceived as good for sore throat and fever. Apparently it has been used for its medicinal properties since ancient times by many cultures. Koreans for one consume barley tea the way Japanese do with green tea.

I made many changes to the recipe that I found; it just didn't taste right. I'm so glad I'm a more "mature" cook now or I would have been so lost. Firstly, something was missing in its vinaigrette recipe - I decided to add Dijon mustard and seasoned with salt and pepper. Instead of boiling barley with vegetable stock, I boiled it with plain water and seasoned with miso paste. I also substituted feta cheese with homemade labneh.

I'm proud to say that after all the changes, it earned me many "Mmmmm", "Wowww", and a "it feels like the right thing for the tummy" from my (one and only) loyal patron.

Ingredients:
(serves 2 as side dish)
1/4 barley
1 TB miso paste
1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
Homemade Labneh, crumbled
1/4 C Basil leaves, chopped
1/4 C Green onion, chopped

For the vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
  
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak barley in water for at least 1 hour. Drain.
   
2. Bring barley and 4 cups of water to boil, reduce heat and let cook until barley is tender but still firm to bite; about 30 minutes. Drain and stir in miso paste. Let cool completely.
   
3. Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients and set in refrigerator to chill until ready to use.
4. Mix tomatoes, basil, green onions and labneh into cooked barley. Toss in vinaigrette to coat evenly. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.