Warm barley, chicken, and stone fruit mélange
3
Points®
Total Time
39 min
Prep
19 min
Cook
20 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
This wonderful salad takes full advantage of summer’s abundance of juicy peaches, nectarines, and plums. Look for fragrant fruit that gives slightly to pressure but with no bruises or soft spots. Freestone fruit is what we find most in supermarkets starting from early to mid-June. They are easy to prepare because the pit releases easily from the fruit. For best flavor, use peaches, nectarines, and plums at room temperature and stir the barley into the salad mixture while still warm. It's even better if the chicken is freshly cooked and not chilled. If you can't serve this salad while still warm, don’t let it sit at room temperature for more than an hour or so. Cover and chill, then let it come to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
Uncooked pearl barley
1 cup(s), quick-cooking
Peppermint leaves
¼ cup(s), fresh, chopped
Vinegar
1½ Tbsp, raspberry flavor
Walnut oil
1 Tbsp, or canola oil
Table salt
¾ tsp
Black pepper
¼ tsp, fresly ground
Cooked boneless skinless chicken breast
12 oz, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
Peach
2 medium, fresh, ripe, pitted and chopped
Nectarine
2 item(s), medium, fresh, ripe, pitted and chopped
Plum
2 item(s), medium, fresh, ripe, pitted and chopped
Celery
2 rib(s), medium, chopped
Scallions
2 medium, chopped