Ready in less than 20 minutes, this arugula cannellini bean barley with almonds and Parmesan is a filling grain side that you can serve as a salad, too.
At the grocery last week I made the mistake of picking up a head of iceberg lettuce thinking it was cauliflower.
Fortunately, I caught my error before I was in the checkout line. Having to walk from one end of the store to the other to return the lettuce to its cooler wasn’t a big deal. I just added that journey to my daily step count.
Please don’t accuse me of being a lettuce snob, but I’m particular about my leaves.
Of course, you can make an interesting iceberg salad with the right enhancements, but I prefer my salads in a deeper shade of green.
It’s kind of funny how here in the States iceberg lettuce is the ubiquitous salad base.
When I lived in London, I discovered their version is arugula. It must grow like a weed in the UK climate, so that’s why it is everywhere.
This is hard for me to believe, but it has been almost 11 years since I moved back from my time across the pond.
There are certain pop culture, sports and food things that have stayed with me. And arugula is one of them.
I will put arugula in and on pretty much anything.
On Saturday, I came home totally famished after playing 9 holes of golf with my son, so I used a couple slices of crusty bread to make a sandwich with roasted tomatoes, pesto, sliced hardboiled eggs and a handful of arugula.
This spontaneous sandwich inspired me to revisit one of my arugula-centric, non-salad recipes, this arugula cannellini bean barley.
With almonds, scallions and Parmesan, it eats like a very filling grain side. You can definitely serve it as a salad, too.
This is another dish where leftovers are good eaten cold from the fridge. In this situation, I will add arugula or whatever other lettuce I have on-hand to put it more at the salad end of things.
Ready in less than 20 minutes, this recipe allows you to multi-task.
First, I get the barley and water simmering on the stove. It takes about 12 minutes for the grains to cook.
While the barley and water are bubbling away, I make the arugula sauce. You can think of it like a pesto.
In a food processor, I puree a combination of garlic, arugula, whole almonds, grated Parmesan, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil.
You will end up with what looks like a lot. Don’t worry, the grains and beans will absorb the sauce.
After that, I stir together the barley, cannellini beans and arugula sauce. Then I fold in arugula leaves and sliced scallions after in order to protect the delicate arugula leaves.
Before serving, I top the arugula cannellini bean barley with grated Parmesan and chopped almonds.
This is such a great side!
I have made this several times, great summer salad!