Pearl Barley with Blueberries and Mint (Blueberry Balsamic, Lemon Olive Oil)

Side Dish Club recipes were designed to be produced by weight in grams so that nutrition information could be calculated so you will need a scale to replicate them.

Each recipe produces four servings for a side dish next to a main dish. This size is 115 grams or about 4 ounces (1/4 lb) in weight and about 3/4 cup in volume. For a full meal, you would double the serving size, and this recipe would produce two.

I always envisioned mint as a gum or candy cane ingredient and was not a big fan. But fresh or dried mint is a common ingredient in many mediterranean recipes and when used properly gives a distinctive flavor that I always loved, but actually never knew was due to mint. Many club fans were suspicious of the mint in this recipe and were very and happily surprised with the result.

What you will need:

• Pearl barley. Bob’s Red Mill is our favorite brand for ancient grains.

• Fresh blueberries. Try to get organic if you can as blueberries are one of the fruits known to test high for pesticides. Make sure they not mushy or moldy but firm with a good dark blue color. One tray should be plenty

• Pine nuts - a handful

• Fresh mint - about 1/4 of a small bunch

• Red onion - a small piece

• Crumbled feta cheese. You can purchase pre-crumbled, or buy in a block and crumble or chop yourself. Pre-crumbled is usually more expensive and also a little bit on the dry side.

• Better Than Boullion (Vegetable or Chicken) - Better than Boullion is used in many side dish club recipes. We love it because it tastes super fresh and you can get it in low-salt versions which we prefer since these days almost everything is over salted. You can use either chicken or vegetable broth for this recipe depending on the flavor profile you prefer. We generally like to use chicken, but that is not a good option for vegetarians. To read more about this product, here is a link to the website for Better Than Boullion.

• Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar

• Lemon Olive Oil

• Ginger Balsamic Vinegar or ginger juice or fresh grated ginger. This recipe loves a bit of ginger flavor. You can get it several ways. You can use ginger balsamic with the blueberry balsamic, about 80% blueberry and 20% ginger. You can add just a few teaspoons of ginger juice to the dressing. Not too much or it will water down the dressing. You can finely grate a little fresh ginger and add it to the dressing. I have tried all and they all work great.

Cook the pearl barley.

Measure out (see next section on measuring) 100 grams of raw pearl barley. Cook in accordance with package instructions, but add 1 Tablespoon of Better than Boullion to the warm cooking water. Make sure to stir in the boullion until it is dissolved in the water before adding the barley or you will get sections of barley with all of the boullion and some with none … yuck!

Once your pearl barley is cooked, measure out 100 grams and set it aside to cool in the refrigerator. It is not a perfect estimation of how much raw barley it takes to produce a certain amount of cooked barley so you may end up with a little extra.

Wash blueberries and mint and set out to dry.

I always thoroughly wash my fruit and veggies to extend shelf life. I create a vinegar wash (about 1 cup of white vinegar to a gallon of water) and place the fruit or veggies into the vinegar wash for about 5 minutes before rinsing. This is just “me” as I worry about germs on fresh veggies. But the vinegar wash is certainly optional.

Lay out your blueberries and mint out on a towel to dry. You want to avoid using wet ones because the water on them will water down your dressing and thus your flavor. If you want to accelerate the drying, you can put a fan set on low to blow are over them or pat them dry.

Roast your pine nuts.

Measure out (see next section on measuring) 21 grams of pine nuts (or the closed approximation as a pine nut will weigh more than a gram). Brush a little olive oil onto a not stick pan. Warm the pan on medium heat then add the pine nuts. Cook stirring constantly until pans are golden brown and slightly dark on the edges. Remove from heat quickly when they are ready and allow to cool on a paper towel to absorb any grease.

Prepare and measure your other ingredients.

For measuring I suggest the following:

• Set your scale on the counter and turn it on.

• Make sure it is set to grams.

• Set a large bowl on the side to hold all of your measured ingredients.

• Set a smaller container on the scale to collect your individual ingredients

• Tare out the scale to remove the weight of the container on the scale.

Next …

• Blueberries: Put blueberries into the bowl on the scale until you have about 125-130 grams (it will vary as each blueberry weighs much more than a gram) and then put them into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Roasted Pine Nuts: These are already measured so just toss them into the bowl when they are cooled off.

• Mint: Remove leaves from mint and place into the bowl on the scale until you have 8-10 grams. Chop the mint and put into the larger bowl. Return the smaller bowl to the scale and re-tare the scale.

• Red Onion: Very finely dice red onion and place into the bowl on the scale until you have 5 grams and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Feta Cheese: Measure out 35 grams of crumbled gorganzola in your dish. Don’t place the cheese into the large bowl but set it aside as you will want to add it last.

Make your dressing.

• Place a medium size mixing bowl on the scale.

• Pour in 40 grams of dark blueberry balsamic vinegar unless you are using ginger balsamic for your ginger and in that case pour in 32 grams.

• Pour in 12 grams of Lemon Olive Oil

• Add ginger in one of the following three ways:

  • 8 grams of ginger balsamic vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons of ginger juice

  • 1 teaspoon of very finey grated and chopped fresh ginger

• Remove bowl from scale and whisk using a wire whisk briskly until ingredients are fully emulsified, i.e. thick, creamy, and not separating.

• (Note that I tend to go light on dressing. Many side dish customers wanted a little more dressing and for them I would add extra on the side. For the dressing rich flavor increase the amount of each ingredient by 50%. Just note that this will affect the nutrition information.)

Assemble your side dish.

By now your pear barley should be nice and cool, so it is time to bring all of the ingredients together.

• Mix your dressing into your pearl barley until thoroughly mixed. This ensures that the dressing is fully distributed before adding the other ingredients.

• Add in all of the other ingredients and mix or toss lightly so that everything is well distributed.

• Add the feta cheese and toss lightly.

• Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint when serving.

Nutrition info.