Back from vakay with a longggg to do list. What the heck! Let me get you this yummy salad how-to – still good for those end of summer picnics & BBQ’s. I’m making it tomorrow for the last “Jazz on the Lawn” concert.

I ate something like this in July when I was up at Three Rivers swooning over the hard won success of my dear friend Chris Lynch & her writing partner Meg Howrey. You see, they not only sold their international thriller City of Dark Magic to Penguin Publishing, but they also got the thumbs up for the sequel! Go Lynchie & Meg!!! Two smart broads!

We ate this at a dinner party up there. I couldn’t get enough of this. Neen and I had been wandering aimlessly around Sequoia National Park all day and arrived late & ravenous. How polite of us. With Nina’s help, I tried to replicate it when I got home and I’m please with the result! This salad is so satisfying, tasty & hearty. It’s REALLY easy to make. The most time-consuming part is boiling the grain which takes about 45 mins.

Here’s all you need:

Salad:
1 1/2 c uncooked wheat berries or barley (barley is cheaper & easier to find but I was out)
8 oz feta (depending how much you like)
1/3 c sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 c sliced kalamata olives
parsley to taste
1 avocado

Dressing:
1/4 c olive oil
2-3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1/4 c fresh squeezed orange juice (about half an orange)

First, cook your grain according to package directions. You can do this a day ahead and chill in the fridge. Just be sure to drain thoroughly first.

Now drain & chill the barley. You don’t want it hot when you combine your ingredients.

NOTE: I didn’t really measure anything. I just added ingredients and tasted. That’s partly why this is such a simple salad – you can add more of things you like or have.

Combine ingredients in a large bowl.

Stir to combine and add dressing ingredients.

Here’s a rough approximation of the dressing amounts:

1/4 c olive oil
juice of half an orange
2-3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Drizzle about half that on salad & stir to coat thoroughly. Taste & adjust, adding more dressing if needed. I don’t like a puddle of dressing at the bottom of my salad so I start light & add more. The barley will absorb the dressing but I liked this as leftovers for up to 3 days.

Don’t let Maddie’s excitement fool you. She didn’t dig this.

Jazz on the Lawn
Rogelio Mitchell & Friends
Sunday, August 26
5-7PM
Bring a picnic/blanket and/or low chairs!

Yesterday  in L.A. it was cold out. And grey. What I mean is, we had to wear socks & jackets. But we didn’t – we wore flip flops.

Anyway, what better meal to come home to at the end of the day than a thick, warm soup with homemade croutons? Try this for your next Meatless Monday (since it’s now Tuesday…)

I made a barley vegetable soup a few month ago and it was really good but this one is WAY better. I had bought a bag of dried split peas a few weeks earlier because I thought they’d be tasty but I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with them. Since I still had some barley in my cupboard, I looked for a recipe combining the two and VOILA! With some adjustments I had a hearty, thick and really tasty soup. It called for croutons and since I didn’t have any I made ‘em! This is the first time and I want to tell you – make croutons as often as you have soup. They are REALLY easy to make & add that extra something that soup sometimes needs.

Here we go! You’ll need these items:

SOUP INGREDIENTS:
2 c dried yellow split peas, rinsed & drained
6 carrots, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 c pearl barley, rinsed & drained
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper, to taste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 TBSP olive oil
5 TBSP bouillon (I used vegetarian chicken flavored – you can also use vegetable broth or whatever you have on hand!)
10 c + 8 tsp water (adjust for desired thickness)

Let’s get started!

1. Saute chopped onions in the olive oil until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add crushed garlic for another minute. Be sure to stir occasionally to coat with oil.

2. Add carrots and celery. Stir to coat with oil and sauté for another 3-4 minutes.

3. Add split peas and powdered bullion/water to pot OR vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat, add bay leaf and barley.

5. Simmer covered for about 2 hours.

No, it’s not 1:20PM. 60 minutes + 60 minutes.

D’OH!!! That’s a long time.

6. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Add water/broth as needed. I like my soup sort of thick so I didn’t. Sprinkle some croutons on top & serve.

How to make the croutons??

You’ll need:

CROUTON INGREDIENTS:
6 oz whole grain bread, cut into 1/2″ cubes
Olive oil
2 TBSP butter (or, you can just use 2 more TBSP olive oil which is just as tasty)
1 TBSP Dijon mustard

NOTE: I used one of my homemade breads that I froze a few weeks earlier. If it doesn’t get eaten within the first day or so, I freeze it for croutons. I hadn’t actually made any croutons, EVER, but I knew I would! That said, you can use any old bread you have – so next time you have a couple of heels from your Oroweat sandwich loaf – wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or a ZipLoc and freeze ‘em!)

This is so easy!

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cut bread into 1/2″ cubes.

2. Heat olive oil in saucepan. Melt butter in oil over medium heat. (Incidentally, you can also just use oil if you prefer.)

3. Pour heated oil/butter and mustard over bread cubes & toss to coat.

4. Spread bread cubes across a cookie sheet evenly.

5. Bake for about 12 minutes. Taste one – it should be crunchy, not chewy. If it’s chewy return it to the oven for another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle atop soup. YUM!

My helpers:

Soup adapted from Food.com
Croutons from Annie’s Eats.