This post is sponsored by California Cling Peaches. You can follow California Cling Peaches on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for more canned peach recipe inspiration!
The depths of January can be tough in Canada. It's cold, the days are short and the festive lights and colours of December are gone. Healthy eating resolutions are up against the need for warm, hearty comfort food but we also crave bright colours to balance out our (mostly) white and icy landscape.
Well we've got a great fix for you today with our Peach Barley Salad with Asparagus. It's packed with healthy ingredients that will fill you up, keeping you warm and fuelled through a cold winter day. On top of the peaches, barley and asparagus it's packed with blackberries, feta cheese, toasted and spiced walnuts and a delightful peach yogurt dressing to top it all off!
When you want to add some vibrant colour and the taste of sunshine to your winter dishes don't forget about canned fruits like peaches - they pack the same nutritional punch as their fresh counterparts and they can add some much needed variety (and colour!) to your fruit and veggie diet when fresh, seasonal produce can be limited. And don't forget the peach syrup in the can - it's perfect for adding to sparkling water, smoothies and, in this instance, we used it to make a tasty, light salad dressing.
You can serve this salad warm or cold but we accidentally found while testing the recipes that we actually preferred it with the barley warm - it brought out even more flavours in the peaches! If you want to add even more flavour, consider cooking your barley in chicken or veggie stock instead of water.
Barley is a very hearty grain that cooks up to three times its size. A small amount can quickly fill you up so don't go overboard with amounts when you're cooking it or serving it.
- 1 cup of walnut pieces
- 1 tbsp butter (if you use salted butter, adjust the salt quantity below to ¼ tsp)
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp dried garlic powder
- ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp canned peach syrup
- pinch of chilli powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups of cooked pearl barley (if you're cooking barley the ratio is 1 cup of uncooked barley to 3 cups of water. 1 cup of uncooked barley yields approximately 3 cups of cooked barley)
- 4 cups of mixed salad greens
- 1 can of sliced cling peaches
- 1 bunch of asparagus (about 12 - 15 stalks) steamed, with stems trimmed,
- 1 cup of blackberries
- ½ cup of crumbled feta cheese
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- Once butter is melted add in walnuts, thyme, cayenne, garlic powder and salt and pepper and stir well to get the walnuts coated with the spices.
- Sauté for 4-6 minutes, stirring frequently until nuts are toasted and fragrant. Set aside to cool in pan while you assemble the salad and dressing.
- Drain syrup from the can of peaches - set aside peaches for the salad. You'll have far more than 1 tbsp of peach syrup so be sure to save the remaining for other uses.
- In a small bowl, combine yogurt and peach syrup from the canned peaches you'll use for the salad. Stir well until completely smooth.
- Stir in chili powder, salt and pepper until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
- Let sit while you assemble the salad so the flavours can combine
- Take the peach slices you set aside earlier and pat them dry with a paper towel and then dice the slices
- In 4 large, individual salad bowls or plates, divide the mixed salad greens so each plate gets about 1 cup of greens.
- Top greens with ½ cup of warm, cooked barley (you can also serve cold)
- Divide the diced peaches, asparagus pieces and blackberries between the salad plates
- Sprinkle each plate with the toasted walnuts and crumbled feta cheese
- Drizzle dressing over each plate
- Eat with gusto!
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Yum! This salad looks just amazing! I have to admit, canned fruit ;except for my own home preserves, is something I would never have considered, until I saw this. And coincidentally, I’m doing a series currently on grains, and barley is my next scheduled recipe. So glad you posted this!
This recipe is just the refreshing touch I wanted to add to my day, I simply love the combination of the peach barley, the asparagus and the feta it’s very scrumptious!