Southwest Barley Salad

In keeping with the eating healthy decision from yesterday, I cooked something new based on a recipe from my anti-cancer cookbook. This dish is excellent either hot or cold so it's sort of up to you! I didn't include any sort of garnish in the recipe, but I topped ours with goat cheese and it was wonderful (I still had some left after yesterday).

It was sort of a long day today because Jo got sick and then we spent the whole day at home. I used the home time to steam clean all the carpets and clean my car. Needless to say, this dinner is fast and there will not be a picture of a sick 2 year old eating it!

Southwest Barley Salad


Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp salt
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small tomato, chopped and as much juice preserved as possible
1 small can diced green chiles
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
juice of one lime
1 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions
1. In a medium saucepan bring the water to a boil. Add the barley, 1 Tbsp of the lime juice and the salt. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the barley is tender.

2. While the barley is cooking, combine the black beans, corn, yellow bell pepper, tomato, green chiles, basil, cumin, cayenne pepper, the remaining lime juice and the olive oil. Set it aside until the barley is done cooking. When the barley is finished, drain any remaining liquid and add it to the vegetables. Stir well, garnish with whatever sounds good and serve!