Mediterranean Barley Salad

We have had a box of barley in our pantry for about a year. I didn't really have a clue what to do with it, so I thought about it for a while (ok, a long while). Since it's been really warm lately, I thought maybe some type of salad would be good. So, off I went to www.allrecipes.com and sure enough-I found a recipe that sounded really good-barley, corn, black beans, peas, and more-what's not to love?! This salad was beautiful, very colorful, refreshing and tasty. Now I wonder why that box of barley sat in the pantry for so long!

Mediterranean Barley Salad
(modified from www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
3 C Barley, cooked
1 Can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
1.5 C Frozen Corn
1 C Frozen Peas
3 Tomatillos, chopped
10 Grape Tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1/4 C Olive Oil
Juice from 3 Limes
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Add the barley, beans, corn, peas, tomatillos, tomatoes, and red onion in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, salt & pepper together. Combine the dressing with the salad mixture. Enjoy!

Refreshing Summer Orzo Salad

I found this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and decided to try it out. It sounded delicious and it definitely was! I will be making this one again...

Refreshing Summer Orzo Salad

from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Ingredients:

4 C Chicken Broth (or vegetable broth)
1 (16 oz) package Orzo pasta
1-1/2 T Butter ( I left this out as it wasn't necessary)
1/4 C EVOO
1-1/2 tsp. Minced Garlic
1/2 tsp. Dried Basil
1/2 tsp. Dried Thyme
1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 C Pine Nuts
1 C Pitted Kalamata Olives
1 (2 oz) Jar Capers, with liquid
12 oz. Basil-Flavored Feta Cheese, crumbled
1 (10 oz) Bag Fresh Spinach Leaves, chopped
1 T Lemon Juice (I used lime)

Directions:

1. Bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes. Drain well, then pour the orzo into a bowl, and toss with the butter to keep it from sticking; set aside. NOTE: I cooked the orzo until most of the liquid was gone, but I didn't bother to drain-there was no need to. Orzo tends to get dry, so I felt that leaving the little bit of broth would be the better way to go.

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes. Stir in the basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, and pine nuts. Cook and stir until the pine nuts have toasted to a light golden brown.

3. Stir the pine nut mixture into the orzo along with the olives, capers, feta cheese, spinach, and lemon juice. Serve either warm or cold, but it's better the next day.
I had this both warm and cold-it was FANTASTIC either way. Enjoy!

Asian Trout & Pea Vine Salad

I get weekly sale flyer e-mails and sometimes browse through them to find any exciting ingredients to plan a meal around. Today, I discovered Pea Shoots-they were on sale for $3.49 a package. I've never had them but they sounded interesting so I looked around online for a recipe. I found a recipe from the Washington State University Cooperative Extension (can't find the link now) that sounded really good. The best thing about these pea shoots is the nutritional content-they are extremely nutritious and full of antioxidants! They were delicious! They don't taste like much at first but then you get a bit of a fresh pea taste. So good-I will definitely be having these again.

Then, I had to figure out what to pair them up with. There was also a deal on trout-I LOVE trout. It was $5.99 a pound which I figured was a pretty good deal. I ended up getting a pound and a half and it was way more than enough for us. I looked for a recipe and found a perfect match, Asian Trout, on www.allrecipes.com

What a fabulous meal!

Pea Vine Salad

Ingredients:
1 package Pea Vines, rinsed
1/4 lb. Snow Peas
2 T Light Soy Sauce (I used Tamari)
2 T Rice Vinegar
2 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1 tsp. Sugar
1/4 tsp. Hot Chili Oil

Directions:
Wilt the pea vines; drain on paper towels. Fluff and separate the leaves as much as possible.
Cut the snow peas on the diagonal into thirds. Place in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, rinse with cold water and pat dry. Whisk together liquids and sugar. Toss the pea vines with the dressing.

This recipe also called for toasted sesame seeds, but I forgot them! This salad is incredible.

Asian Trout

Ingredients:
4 Boneless Trout Filets
2 tsp. Soy Sauce (I used Tamari)
1 tsp. White Sugar
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Minced Garlic
1 tsp. Minced Ginger
4 Large Green Onions, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
Rub trout fillets with soy sauce. Season with salt, pepper and sugar; set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger and green onions; cook and stir until golden brown. Add trout fillets and cook until browned and crispy, about 3 minutes. Turn fillets over, and continue cooking until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 3 minutes more. DELICIOUS!

Cilantro-Corn Salad

I found this recipe on www.azcook.blogspot.com. I thought it would pair up nicely with grilled flounder-I was right! This salad was really good. The only issue we had was it was a bit runny. Next time I plan on grilling corn on the cob and using that instead of the frozen corn that I had on hand. Yum!

Cilantro-Corn Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 C Mayo

1/2 C Yogurt (I used Greek Yogurt)

1/4 C Chopped Cilantro

1 Jalapeno, chopped (I omitted this as I had none)

1 tsp. Ground Ginger

4 Cups of Corn

1 Small Green Bell Pepper, Chopped

1 Can Rotel Tomatoes & Chiles

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and chill.

I also added the juice of half a lime and salt & pepper.