warm quinoa and barley salad

this can be a great side dish or main dish.  i used it as a main dish recently, mostly because when it came down to it - i didn't have any more time to make something else for dinner (well, i baked some chicken for hubby).  this is a wonderfully refreshing, delicious and simple dish.  and it's quite easy to customize too - no dried cranberries?  no problem!  toss in some raisins if you want.  no walnuts?  toast up some almonds!  but the roasted beets . . . i think they're pretty imperative to the dish.

golden beets, pre-roasting.  i love how they look.  round. bulbous.  what a strange word.  b-u-l-b-o-u-s.  bulbous.  

roast beets in 400 degree oven.  while they're roasting, cook the quinoa and barley.  measurements?  umm . . . sorry, i did this dish mainly visually.  but i'll try.  about 1/2 cup quinoa and 1/2 cup barley.  cooked it in a rice-cooker with 1 cup water.   it'll take about 40 min, perfect timing since the beets take about 45 min.

beets roasted and peeled.  naked beets.  on an odd side note - hubby and i went to a comedy show last friday night with friends L and C.  long story short, the comedian (hilarious, btw, absolutely loved her!), Jackie Kashian, described her husband as her "naked friend."  hehe.  naked beets.  naked friend.  okay, the only connection is the word naked.  moving on . . .

dice the cooked roasted beets - i used just two.  fluff the quinoa and barley like you would couscous, with a fork.  add about the rice vinegar and honey.  toss.  add salt and black pepper.  add the dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, chopped arugula.  mix and you're ready to eat!

Warm Quinoa and Barley Salad

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 cup barley

1 cup water

2 medium golden beets

3 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp honey (warmed to help mixing)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped arugula

roast beets in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.  while it's roasting, cook quinoa and barley in the water, about 40 minutes in rice cooker.

cool and peel beets under cold water.  dice beets.

fluff quinoa and barley with a fork.

add beets.

add vinegar and honey, mix.

add salt and pepper and mix.

add walnuts, dried cranberries, chopped arugula and mix.

get a bowl and eat!

easy dinner

so dinner tonight was as planned, but not as good as dinner last night.

last night i made stir fry sugar snap peas with chicken with a mix of brown rice and barley.  healthy dinner!

some people just wash the sugar snap peas and then cook them.  but i hate the "strings" and so i like to take a little extra time to remove them.  here's what i mean - 

 

stir fry with chicken and top over a mix of brown rice and barley, mmmmmm

recipe is quite easy

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 tsp cornstarch

2 tbsp cooking wine

1 or 2 garlic cloves, diced

approximately 2 cups of sugar snap peas

1/2 tbsp oil (i use canola)

pinch salt

i like to slice the chicken into, well, slices.  mix with cornstarch and cooking wine and garlic.

heat pan, add oil, stir fry the chicken.  when it's just about done, pour it into a separate bowl.  add the sugar snap peas to the pan, stir fry and when it's just about done, add the chicken back in.  add some salt.  if there's too much liquid, take a little more cornstarch (1/2 -1 tsp), mix it with a little cold water and add it to your pan.  it should thicken it right up.  serve over the brown rice and barley.  nice and quick chinese style meal