Sort-of-Greek Barley Salad

It's been a long time since I've posted here - and I have my reasons, trust me, but that's neither here nor there. Right now, it's all about quick, easy, summer food, the kind you make when you and your spouse are both ravenous and you're broke and your AC is broke and it's 90 degrees out and running the oven is patent suicide. It's made even better by a side of cooling Ecuadorian-style marinated onions, an easy recipe I learned to make from my amazing past employers, who taught me all kinds of lovely cooking things which will probably end up on this blog.










































And if all your dishes are dirty, this is your lucky day. You can slop this delicious cold barley salad and slop it into some tomato cups and call it a day, homes. Enjoy. (And not to toot my own horn or anything, but if these look delicious, it's because they are).

Sort-of-Greek Barley Salad

 2 cups cooked barley

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp tahini

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp dried dill

juice of one small lemon

3 tomatoes

3 small radishes, diced

One small chopped onion, or Ecuadorian-style marinated onions (see recipe below)

.5 medium cucumber, diced

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Salt + pepper to taste

Cook barley and rinse with cold water. To make the tomato cups, cut the top off the tomato with the knife angled so that the point is towards the center of the tomato, carving out some of the center. Trim and chop the excess tomato around stem, and use a spoon to scrape the seeds and meat from the inside of the tomato and into a bowl you intend to make the salad in, hollowing it out. Hollow two tomatoes, and chop the final one and add to the bowl.



Add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl and stir well. Fill your tomatoes - there will be plenty extra - and eat with your hands.

Ecuadorian-Style Onions

5 medium to large onions, sliced

Lime (or lemon) juice to cover - probably at least five

Several tbsp of fresh or dried parsley (optional)

  Slice onions thinly, sprinkle with parsley, and cover (or at least almost cover) with citrus juice. The ones pictured with my stuffed tomatoes are extremely fresh, I think I had prepared them the day before. After a few days kept refrigerated they will be limp and deliciously pickled. And pickled delicious.

  They are amazing added to salads, sandwiches; or diced and added to dressings, chutneys, etc. Basically, the flavor of these onions way outweighs the simplicity of the recipe and you may find yourself keeping them on hand all the time.