Barley salad

So, when I saw this salad last summer on Soma's blog, I just knew I had to do it. And I've made it several times since then. I love trying out new grains and barley was casually added to the list. I'd bought barley, but hadn't figured out what to do with it. Just when I think this way, Soma, very helpfully comes up with a post :D So, I figured, might as well do what she did.

Its amazing how filling this dish is, and how easily it can be put together. It requires a lot of chopping work, what with the myriad veggies thrown in, but trust me, its all worth it. Now, again, come this summer, I was determined to make it, click it and post it!

As Nandita and I were discussing on Twitter, sometimes, some dishes come out so well. And mostly during dinner at my place thanks to that being the only major meal cooked! Either I find the photos not great, or I just don't take any pictures. While I don't want to put any pressure on myself to take a picture of every thing I eat, I don't want to skip posting great recipe ideas on this blog. What do you guys do? How do you cope?

Here is the recipe!

Ingredients

1 cup barley

1-1.5 cups mixed veggies (carrots, beans, corn- we used the frozen mix :D)

1 cup spinach (fresh leaves) - no need to chop them.

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 star anise

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp red chili powder (or cayenne pepper powder)

1 tbsp oil

salt to taste

1. Cook the barley. We did so in a microwave. Cook until its tender but not too chewy/mushy. We ended up using about 2-3 cups of water. It took us about 15-20 mins. to cook the barley. Once cooked, drain if there is any excess water remaining.

2. While the barley is cooking, add 1/2 tbsp oil to a skillet. When hot, add the cumin seeds and star anise. When they crackle, add the onions and the veggies (except spinach) together. Let them cook for about 3-4 mins.

3. Add the spinach and all the spices and let it cook for another 5-10 mins.

4. When the veggies are almost tender enough to eat, add the cooked barley with remaining 1/2 tbsp oil. This will avoid individual grains from sticking together.

5. Cook for 2 more mins. Let it rest for a couple more minutes.

And you're ready to go!

Make it this summer. This works great as a salad or as a pulao too. We try to create different flavors every time we make this. Last time we made it, we experimented with Thai flavors. When you cook the barley in the microwave like we did, there is no need to soak it even. While I cut the vegetables, this cooked in the MW and it was drained and ready by the time I got done with cooking the veggies. How easy can it get?

3 months later.. Spinach-Apple Salad

3 months later, I return to 'my' home in the US. I was in India starting January and spent time until the beginning of April. While the whole idea was to spend time until mid-March, A's visa delays ensured that we made a quick trip to Kerala, put on an extra 20 pounds in the last 15 days, fall ill, meet some more people, answer more questions about having a baby, smile more at unknown people and watch A getting pampered more. I also made sure to make up by meeting some food bloggers - Sra, Srivalli. Anu couldn't make it, so we missed her, but overall, a wonderful time was had by all :) I also spoke to Deeba and Aparna on the phone and had tons of fun doing so. I hope to meet them the next time I hit India! This trip also meant that a lot of snacks made its way across seven seas to the US. Murukku, Seedai, Mixture, Laddoo, Halwa, Burfis - you name it and we have it. All home-made by my granny whose exploits should be written in the NYT! Really.

We came back only to fall ill with fever and cold and cough and some other very exciting things happened. No, I'm not pregnant yet, but other interesting avenues have opened up and I promise to update you on that soon. Just waiting for one last thing to click. Anyway, we haven't been cooking anything major though our social life has been quite happening ever since we returned! It was the same old stuff we were making. A and I have fallen into a rut. Same Thai curry, same pasta, same Aloo-Gobi, choley, Kadhi, same vethe kuzhambu, rasam, usili happened, until one day, we just thought to ourselves how we had just NOT tried anything new. No new ingredient, no new dish, let alone an ingredient!

I decided to change that by making this salad. I don't make too many salads at home thanks to my generous hand with dressings which in turn makes my salads quite soggy and unpalatable. This time, I made A do it. He's always cautious with his ingredients. There is no flair, there is no passion, there is no random generosity, there is no swish of the hand, there is no need to finish that extra drop of dressing just because I don't want to find a box to store it. He is the boring geek, the scientist who measures out milliliters of chemicals to create that perfect 'I dunno what.' So, he naturally excelled with this salad. He recreated an Apple Gorgonzola salad we ate at Buca Di Beppo, only without the luscious Gorgonzola cheese. We didn't have any and did not have any patience to go run and get some.

Its a different thing that we realised we had NO pasta at home. This realisation dawned on us just at the right time. When the water came to a rolling boil, when the sauce was ready and when the veggies were all ready - to be thrown together. Fortunately for me, this was also the time that A decided to run out to get pasta and the salad was ready. Just for me. I'm not kidding you. I made sure to clean the bowl of ALL the cranberries, walnuts and apples. I decided to show pity to the salad maker and left him some sorry looking leaves. Now since this post has gotten really boring thanks to a brilliant writer's block, (Read it as you want. Brilliant writer has a block or, the writer's block is so brilliant this piece is everything but brilliant. Get it?) and since I've also thrown in a story in brackets, I shall take pity on you, my poor blog readers (still!) and give you the almost-nothing great recipe. But the taste was great. Promise. Try it this summer and you will be hooked.

Ingredients

2 -3 cups baby spinach (Get the pre-washed ones. Saves you the very little time that you spend washing it :P)

1 large apple, chopped (We used Golden Delicious)

1/2 cup cranberries (I'm being nice here. I added a 3/4 cup :D coz I love these dried treats)

1/2 cup roasted, chopped walnuts (I speak the truth here :D make that 3/4 cup if you are a nutty person like me)

1-2 tbsp Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Chop the apples, roast and chop the walnuts. Mix and keep aside.

2. Heat some water and add the cranberries to it to plump them. Reinvigorate them and once they look plump, add them to the apple-walnut mixture.

3. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the above mixture and mix well

4. Add the spinach in the end and toss well.

That's all. Yes. And if you have a husband, you don't even need to do the above four steps. You just need to do one.

1. Watch :D

Sorry, make that two.

2. Eat.

The pictures prove how hungry I was to, eat it. I took one picture. Just one and I post that here with great pride and love :D

In other news, like always I promise to be regular and better with my writing and A promises to make more good, better and fun stuff for this blog. At least we try! ;)

Herby Panzanella!

Dill is one of my favourite herbs. My mom usually uses it to add flavour and greens to Akki Roti, an all time fave at my house. When I first saw Dill or Sabakki as we call it at the Indian store, I was ballistic, and bought a bunch home. In my enthusiasm of having correlated that dill = sabakki, and that it was easily available, I used up the entire bunch of dill for my first Akki Roti experiment. A hated it. It was way too bitter and I had to beg him since then everytime I had to buy dill! Ultimately, I stopped. Not because he said no. But, actually, I stopped being the romantic newly-wed wife who woke up early to make delicious breakfasts for the early bird husband of hers. So, no reason to buy dill, I thought and left it at the herb stall at my Indian store after having touched it lovingly. Last week, when I went to the Indian store, I made an on the spot resolution to wake up early from the next day and reaffirm my love to A. After a week of the dill lying in the fridge, I figured that if I my love for A had not made me wake up early, this rotting dill certainly won't! But I had to use it!

I'm an insomniac and have endless nights thinking about food, unkept promises and resolutions. One such night proved to be an inspiration. I dreamt/thought about a creamy dill dressing for a Panzanella salad. Though I'm not a salad person, I love my Panzanella! The next day, I opened the fridge to be greeted by wilting mint leaves too. So, I decided to be firm and use up the mint too. This is what I did!

Ingredients:

1 bunch of dill leaves, chopped
A couple of mint leaves, chopped
2 tbsp yoghurt or sour cream (optional, I did not add it because I did not have it. But I'm sure the taste'd have gone up a notch)
1tsp powdered cumin seeds
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 carrot, chopped lengthwise, into thin strips
Pieces of bread - preferably stale
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

1. Blend chopped dill, mint and yoghurt/sour cream together in a blender. Add some salt and pepper to the dressing.

2. In a bowl, add the chopped onions, tomatoes and carrots, add salt and pepper, lemon juice and powdered cumin seeds. Mix well.

3. Add bread, mix well.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Let it rest for 5 mins.

5. Attack it with a vengeance (I always eat salad with a vengeance. No prizes for guessing why!)

With my last helping of the salad, I also added some fat-free herb crackers to make it salad ala herb overload. It was delicious to bite into crunchy crackers in between the soft salad! I did not lettuce that day, however, am sure lettuce is a great addition. This is the only salad I dreamt about again! However, this time, I dreamt it with some olive oil and Parmesan action :P