Ideal for those who don’t like lettuce, this chickpea pearl barley and pomegranate salad is just what you need for BBQ season.
Recipe inspo
Pearl barley is one of my absolute favourite grains. With it’s chewy texture, it pairs well with the crunchy cucumbers and pistachios in this salad. The chickpeas give pockets of spice, the pomegranate little bursts of sweetness and the salad is well balanced with a lemon and honey dressing.
It’s super simple to put together and so versatile. Sometimes I throw in a bit of feta or swap out the pistachios for whatever nuts are in the cupboard. You can have it alongside grilled halloumi or chicken thighs and it’s a perfect side dish for BBQ season.
Summery and fresh when it’s warm, we had this chickpea pearl barley and pomegranate salad often while travelling round Australia. You can keep the leftovers for three days in an airtight container in the fridge so you can dip in for lunch or pair with a protein for dinner.
Ingredients
- Pearl barley: a nutty and chewy grain, pearl barley is great in salads, soups, stews and can be used as a substitute for risotto rice.
- Chickpeas: crispy roasted chickpeas give a delicious crunch to this salad. Drain, rinse and pat dry your tinned chickpeas with a paper towel. Then toss in a baking tray with olive oil and harissa and roast in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Harissa paste: giving a fiery and smokey flavour, you can pick up harissa paste from most supermarkets. Originally from Tunisia, harissa is made of chilli, garlic, lemon and various herbs and spices. If you don’t have it to hand, you can toss your chickpeas in chilli powder, paprika and cumin.
- Pomegranate: releasing pomegranate arils from the fruit can be frustrating! I’ve tried all sorts of tutorials but found this one on Instagram to be the best way to whack them out.
You can find the full ingredients in the recipe below.
Let me know how this goes down at your next BBQ, especially with those who don’t like lettuce. Drop a comment below or tag me @somethingwithflavour.
Print
Chickpea pearl barley and pomegranate salad
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Ideal for those who don’t like lettuce, this chickpea pearl barley and pomegranate salad is just what you need for BBQ season.
Ingredients
- 140 grams dried pearl barley
- 400 grams tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons harissa paste
- 160 grams cherry tomatoes, halved
- 160 grams cucumber, diced
- 1 small pomegranate, seeds removed
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 40 grams pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
- Large handful of mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
- Large handful of coriander, finely chopped stalks and all
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan.
- Cook the pearl barley according to packet instructions. The one I use says to rinse and then boil with 5 x the amount of water for an hour, but I usually find it is cooked at around 45 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the water level as it cooks and add more boiling water if dry. Once cooked, drain into a sieve and allow to cool.
- Pop your drained and rinsed chickpeas on some kitchen roll to remove the excess water. Tip into a baking tray and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of harissa paste and a good grind of salt and pepper. Stir to thoroughly coat the chickpeas and pop in the oven for 40 minutes to roast, giving them a shake halfway through. Remove when crispy and allow to cool.
- While your pearl barley and chickpeas are cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Combine the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, pomegranate, red onion and pistachio nuts in a large serving bowl.
- When the pearl barley and chickpeas have cooled, add to the bowl along with the mint, coriander, lemon zest and juice, honey, 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Give everything a good stir and taste – adjust seasoning as necessary and then serve!
Notes
Serves 8 as a side or enough for more at a larger BBQ alongside other dishes
To make this dish vegan, replace the honey with agave syrup or another sweetener
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Salad
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 portion (as a side)
- Calories: 188
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 27.4mg
- Fat: 7.4g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 5.8g
- Protein: 5.6g
Leave a Reply