This was so good! We ate it room temp and this amount made full dinners for two adults. Recipe is from NYT Cooking.
**Ingredients:**
– 1 cup pearled barley
– Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
– 2 pounds carrots, washed, trimmed, and cut into 3-inch-long, scant ½-inch-wide batons
– 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
– 2 teaspoons runny honey, such as clover honey
– ½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest (from ½ lemon)
– 2 cups arugula
– A handful of parsley
– ¼ cup toasted sliced almonds
– Pan-fried chickpeas tossed with za’atar (as desired)
**For The Spiced Tahini:**
– ¼ cup tahini
– 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from ½ lemon)
– 1 teaspoon ras el hanout (you can google this and add spices together to make your own mix)
– 1 small garlic clove, grated
**Directions:**
1. **Cook Barley:**
– In a medium saucepan, cook 1 cup pearled barley according to package instructions. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.
2. **Prepare Carrots:**
– Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
– Toss the carrot batons with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on a baking sheet until tender and slightly caramelized, about 20 minutes.
– After roasting, drizzle the roasted carrots with honey and sprinkle fresh lemon zest (from ½ lemon) over them. Toss to coat evenly.
3. **Pan-Fry Chickpeas with Za’atar:**
– Pan-fry chickpeas until golden brown, then toss with za’atar and a bit of salt to coat.
4. **Make Spiced Tahini:**
– In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, lemon juice, ras el hanout, and grated garlic. Add water 3 tablespoons of water once tablespoon at a time until drizzly. Adjust seasoning (add salt) to taste.
5. **Assemble Salad:**
– In a large bowl, combine cooked barley, honey-drizzled roasted carrots, arugula, parsley, toasted almonds, and pan-fried chickpeas with za’atar.
– Drizzle the spiced tahini dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine.
by supermoon85