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

4.60 from 5 votes

Course: Salad: Side Dish or Main Dish

Prep Time: 20

Total Time: 20

Servings: side salads

Calories: 145kcal

Author: Jill Weisenberger MS, RDN, CDE, FAND

Ingredients

2 cups cooked pearled, barley (prepared without salt)
3 ounces baby spinach, torn (about 4 - 5 cups whole baby spinach leaves), remove tough stems if any
1 6- ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (about ¾ cup chopped)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (about 5 - 6 ounces)
1 15- ounce can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed or chopped
¼ tsp black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 ounces feta 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.

Nutrition