Warm barley salad, with chicken, vegetables & piccalilli sauce

This dish is hearty, colourful, and feels like comfort food with a twist. You’ve got juicy grilled chicken (pan-fried or roasted is also an option if you want), over nutty barley mixed with roasted or lightly sautéed veggies. The tangy piccalilli sauce adds just the right amount of zing to balance the warm, earthy flavours of the salad.

It’s one of those dishes that looks fancy but secretly comes together without too much fuss.

Serve it up warm, pass it around the table, and watch everyone go quiet after the first bite. That’s how you know it’s a keeper.

Ingredients: (for 2 persons)

• 150 g barley
• 2-3 pieces of chicken breast (~250-300 g)
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 20 ml sunflower oil
• half a stock cube
• 100 g fresh spinach
• 10 g fresh parsley
• 150 g green beans
• 100 g yoghurt
• 5 g barbecue seasoning
• 2 tablespoons curry seasoning
• 50 g ready-made piccalilli sauce (optional)
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

Rinse the chicken breast and lightly coat it with olive oil. Sprinkle over the barbecue seasoning, toss to coat evenly, and set it aside to marinate briefly.

Next, let’s prep the vegetables: peel the garlic and press it through a garlic press. Rinse the green beans, trim the ends, and cut each pod in half. Peel and finely chop the onion. Wash the bell peppers, remove the seeds, slice them in half lengthwise, then cut into even strips.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the bouillon cube and barley, and let it cook for about 8 minutes once it starts boiling. Then add the green beans and continue cooking for another 7–8 minutes, then drain well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a pan, and once it’s hot, add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 1–2 minutes until softened. Add the bell pepper, stir well, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the curry paste and cook for another 2–3 minutes to release the flavours.

Add the previously cooked barley and green beans, then mix everything thoroughly. Add a little bit of water if necessary. Let it cook for an additional 4 minutes. Add the spinach, mix well and cook for another 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid, and set aside to rest.

I cooked the chicken breast on my electrical grill – Tefal Optigrill . You can cook it however you want, in a pan, on the grill, in the oven, etc.

In a bowl, combine the yoghurt with the chopped parsley, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and stir until everything is well blended.

Once the meat is cooked, it’s time to plate: start with a layer of the barley mixture, top it with the sliced chicken, spoon over some yoghurt sauce with parsley, then finish it all off with a generous drizzle of piccalilli sauce.

Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

If you try the recipe, let me know how you liked it! 😊

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