Barley and Spinach Fall Salad with Maple Syrup Vinaigrette
This recipe got featured in the Maple Syrup World.
Yellow, red and orange, may be some brown too. I am slowly getting used to the pleasantly chilly morning and the evening and the comfortable nip in the air. There are not more than a few leaves turned red right now – that is where we live, in the midst of Texas.
But autumn is beautiful around the bend of the road.
Oklahoma, only 3 hours drive up north is a different world. It is not the peak of fall yet in the Southern States, but we did experience some colors. The hills are beautiful and even more beautiful is the way they reflect in the lake.
The lodge we stayed for the weekend was inside the park and right on the lake – a rustic room with not many conveniences. But who needs luxury when you can see the sun rise over the lake from your bed? We sat on the porch all wrapped up in robes, blankets and the charm of the dawn and saw the sky and the clouds take on the color and slowly spread the paint over to the hills and the shimmering misty lake. The picture will be more eloquent than my words…
Photo: by Arjun
Well back home now, and I am still in a trance, wanting to go back to the magic. The limbs feel heavy and I do not want to do anything but sit by the lake and skip rocks with A and the kids. But live moves one.
We missed the fresh figs again this year, but the pomegranates are here. My daughter can eat 3 whole pomegranates at one go and I am not exaggerating. In our home these jewels don’t get much chance to be cooked with, so we quickly eat them right out of their skin.
The inspirations for the salad are Nicole’s Fall Salad & Karina’s Quinoa Salad. With summer temperatures here, one does not really get into the autumn mode of lifestyle as the rest of the world. But with quite a few bunches of spinach in my yard, the pears, pomegranates and the nuts, this one definitely qualified as a pretty good fall salad.
I did not really mean to post this, so no measurements this time in the recipe. It is a Salad; which gives you the liberty to use whatever you want and what ever way you want it. I loved Karina’s idea of using maple syrup in the dressing and the rest of the ingredients of the dressing came together with different things on the shelf; but it was good – a little sweet, a little tart and a little spicy. Overall it was a very vibrant, healthy and satisfying lunch.
Barley and Spinach Fall Salad with Maple Syrup Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
- baby spinach leaves
- barley ( I used pearl barley)
- pomegranate
- apple
- pear
- salted and roasted sunflower seeds/or pumpkin seeds
- lightly toasted walnut/pecans
For dressing:
- infused olive oil
- maple syrup
- wine vinegar
- red pepper flakes
- pomegranate molasses
- a pinch of salt
Preparation:Cook the barley. I usually use twice the amount of water to the barley and boil them till they are softened and there is no more water left. (salt + barley + water). Set aside.
Take out the arils of the pomegranate. Chop the fruits. Wash the baby spinach (I used the leaves from my yard, so I had to give them a good rinse to get the dirt out).
In a bowl combine the leaves, fruits, nuts, and the cooked barley.
Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing; drizzle over the salad and toss well.
Serve right away.
And because I used the spinach from my yard, this is going to GYO#46, hosted by MomGateway.
Related Posts:
Barley Salad with Peppers Beans and everything else
Roasted Artichokes Chickpeas and Garlic Salad with Lemon and Sesame
Shepherd’s Salad (Coban Salatasi)
Beautiful pictures and such a colorful and healthy salad
What splendid pictures of your dish and of fall’s beautiful landscapes! That is one marvelous recipe.
Cheers,
Rosa
Amazing pictures! Specially the Sun Rise picture.
Where in OK is that place? Is it Broken Bow?
The salad looks colorful and refreshing!
Close 🙂 Beavers Bend State park, Oklahoma.
It looks gorgeous! ( both the salad and the autumn pics) i love the idea of maple syrup in the dressing!
This is gorgeous, and looks so delicious with all the fall flavours. I love how you made it an entree salad with the barley. 🙂
This is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I can’t wait to make it.
BTW…where can I get Pom. Molasses. Doesn’t sound like something my typical HEB carries. 🙂
Thank you! I got the Pom Molasses from Kroger. Some grocery stores will keep them in the mediterranean aisle/section.
colorful n flavorful salad…looks mouthwatering…stuck and busy these days…wil catch up with all ur delicious posts soon….
I am not fond of Fall but the colors inspire me. Love the colors in the salad. In a pomegranate the peeling is the toughest and has not many takers and then everyone gobbles it up.
Very colorful and tasty looking salad. Healthy as well. Excellent recipe.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
The photographs are superb… love the colors you used in the salad.. very refreshing…
Beautiful photos and the salad looks so delicious. I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos to my new vegetarian food photo gallery showcasing beautiful and flavorful vegetarian food.
Super delicious salad with beautiful colours, awesome!!
looks so colourful nd flavourful..happy weekend
Soma, what a great idea for a salad! It’s Pomegranate season and I love using these ruby jewels on salads!
Gorgeous salad! I love that you used barley.
that’s such a gorgeous salad… the colours are so attractive!
I love autumn too, the colours of the leaves are so beautiful! Lovely salad. Great colours and flavours!
beautiful salad and pictures
What a gorgeous fall salad. That shot of the pomegranate with seeds is really lovely. The seeds are just like jewels :).
Living in N. California, I’ve yet to experience fall somewhere that has trees that turn that beautiful crimson and orange. Thanks for sharing those glorious photos. It makes me feel like I’m there — at least in spirit. 😉
The sun rise is splendid! Love the fall color i miss so much east Coast at this season! The salad is gorgeous!
Absolutely gorgeous…both the salad and the leaves!! 😀
looks so colourful nd flavourful..happy weekend
Soma, what a great idea for a salad! It’s Pomegranate season and I love using these ruby jewels on salads!
Hi there! This recipe sounds delish and I was hoping that you might add it to my Easter and Spring Linking Party to share with my readers. If you are interested, you can go here http://bakedbyjoanna.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-linking-party.html to enter. Thanks!
Stunning salad linking back to it today! Pinning & facebook now 🙂
Marla, really really appreciate this and also for stopping by here 🙂 Thank you so much.
xo
Soma
As a fellow maple syrup lover, I can’t wait to try this one out. Thanks for sharing. Your photos are just beautiful.