Made with an assortment of fresh vegetables and fragrant flavours, this Crunchy Barley Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing is perfect for hot summer days. This GoBarley recipe was featured at the 2016 Dietitians of Canada conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (500 mL) cooked barley*
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1 cup (250 mL) diced green sweet pepper
• ½ cup (125 mL) sliced water chestnuts, cut in half
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) sodium reduced soy sauce
• 2 tsp (10 mL) minced ginger root
• ½ tsp (2 mL) granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ cup (60 mL) roasted unsalted cashews, chopped

*To cook barley, in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 1 cup (250 mL) barley and 2 cups (500 mL) water to a boil. Cover pan and reduce heat. Simmer until barley is tender, about 40 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine barley, celery, green onions, carrot, green pepper, and water chestnuts.

In a small bowl, whisk together canola oil, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger root, sugar, salt, and garlic until blended. Pour dressing over barley mixture and toss mixture to coat well. Chill salad for two hours allow the flavours to blend.

Garnish with cashews, toasted sesame seeds or green onions before serving.

Makes about 5 servings (250 mL each).

Nutritional Information: Calories: 207; Protein: 4 g; Carbohydrate: 27 g; Fibre: 5 g; Sugars: 4 g; Fat: 10 g; Saturated Fat: 1.5 g; Trans Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 313 mg; Potassium: 283 mg