Mediterranean Barley with Chickpeas and Arugula

This recipe was super easy and made really delicious leftovers! I will definitely make it again.

The only change I made was that instead of pistachios, I used toasted pine nuts. We loooove pistachios and I think if I bought a bag, we would have eaten the whole thing! Plus, I had some pine nuts that needed to be used up. The great thing about a recipe like this is that it would be easy to mix up the ingredients. For example, you could easily sub quinoa or brown rice for the barley, use baby spinach in place of arugula, use cannellini beans in place of the chickpeas... the possibilities are endless!

Mediterranean Barley with Chickpeas and Arugula

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 cup packed arugula leaves
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Preparation

1. Cook barley according to package directions, omitting salt. Combine barley, arugula, bell pepper, tomatoes, and chickpeas in a large bowl.
2. Combine lemon juice, oil, salt, and crushed red pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over barley mixture, and toss. Sprinkle with pistachios.
Susan Russo, Cooking Light
APRIL 2011