Bean and Barley Salad Recipe: Healthy and Diabetes-Friendly
When you drain and rinse canned beans, you wash away about 40% of the sodium. I prefer long-cooking barley because I think it tastes better, but if you have a preferred brand of fast-cooking barley, feel free to use it. If you use the diabetes exchanges for meal planning, count them this way: 1 Starch, 1 Fat
2cupscooked pearled,barley (prepared without salt)
3ouncesbaby spinach,torn (about 4 - 5 cups whole baby spinach leaves), remove tough stems if any
1 6-ouncejar marinated artichoke hearts,drained and chopped (about ¾ cup chopped)
1cupcherry tomatoes,halved (about 5 - 6 ounces)
1 15-ouncecan white kidney beans,rinsed and drained
3tablespoonolive oil
3tablespoonlemon juice
1clovegarlic,crushed or chopped
¼tspblack pepper
1/4teaspoonkosher salt
2ouncesfeta cheese,crumbled
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together the cooked barley, spinach, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and beans.
In a small bowl, mix together the oil, lemon juice, garlic and pepper.
Pour the dressing over the barley, beans and vegetables and mix well. Chill several hours. Before serving, sprinkle with the feta cheese and mix gently.
Variation: Feel free to add any vegetable you like. Shredded carrots are very pretty in this dish.