Tomato Barley Salad with Cucumber and Pepper
This tomato barley salad is perfect with a piece of toasted bread, cheese, or a side dish to pasta, baked fish, or your favorite meat.
TOMATO BARLEY SALAD WITH CUCUMBER AND PEPPER
This vegetable salad is packed with delicious juicy cherry tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, and sweet roasted pepper and flavored to perfection with an easy, refreshing lemon dressing. Let’s dive in.
WHAT INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
- Cherry tomatoes (variety of colors for cheerful appearance)
- Cucumber
- Scallions
- Red Bell Pepper – roasted and skin removed (see the recipe card for instructions)
- Cooked Barley
- Lemon Juice from real lemon
- honey
- olive oil
- mustard
- garlic
- salt
- pepper
SALAD DRESSING
This refreshing salad dressing relies on the sour-sweet flavor from a freshly squeezed lemon juice and honey. It is whisked together with olive oil, dijon mustard and seasoned with minced garlic, salt, and pepper. It’s perfection. This dressing can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you like herbs, you can get creative. Use basil, parsley or cilantro. And a good thing is, if you are not a fan of garlic you can leave it out.
SALAD FILLING IDEAS
- If you are not a fan of barley, this salad is equally delicious with brown rice or whole grain pasta.
- Don’t have cucumber? Use a small zucchini. However, don’t use a large zucchini with a lot of seeds. Small ones are perfect, they are crunchy and perfect for salads.
- And if don’t like hard-boiled eggs, use feta or fresh mozzarella cheese instead.
MORE DELICIOUS VEGETABLE RECIPE YOU CAN TRY
- Warm Apple Cabbage Salad
- Asparagus Salad
- Mexican Bean Salad Recipe via Live Eat Learn
- Honey Glazed Roasted Carrots – perfect with homemade Tartar Sauce
Tomato Barley Salad with Cucumber and Pepper
Ingredients
Dressing
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- juice of 1 lemon
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
Salad Fillings
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, washed, cut in half, use red, yellow and orange variety if available
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 medium cucumbers, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted, skin removed and sliced
- 2/3 cup cooked barley, cooled
- 2 tbsp parsley (optional)
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered peeled and quartered
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Dressing
- Whisk together 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, lemon juice from one large lemon, 1 minced large garlic clove, and 2 teaspoons of honey in a small dish—season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
How to Remove Skin from Red Pepper
- Roast the pepper: wash and slice the red bell pepper in half, and remove the seeds. Place pepper onto the foil-lined baking dish. Broil the pepper until the skin is charred evenly and the pepper has blisters. Rotate pepper under the broiler as needed. This can take 10 minutes, more or less. Remove it from the oven, wrap the pepper in the foil, and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let it sit for 10 minutes to soften.Peel the skin from the pepper and slice the peeled pepper into small strips.
Assemble the Salad
- Add 2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes, 2 thinly sliced scallions, 2 medium size sliced cucumbers, sliced roasted red bell pepper, 2/3 cup cooked cooled barley, and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley into a bowl. Toss the fillings and pour the dressing over the vegetables. Gently stir them together and chill for 30 minutes.
