Every time I have barley in a dish I’m reminded of how utterly delicious this grain is. The grain has a deep nutty taste with a great, satisfying chewy texture and is very hearty, not to mention nutritious. It’s rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and provides lots of fiber as well.

In Norway, my home country, barley is a very important grain and the most cultivated. We often include both whole berries and barley flour in our breads and it is also important in local beer production. In fact, most of the barley used today goes into beer making!

I love making risotto with barley in place of arborio or carnaroli, and I also add it into soups and stews and make breakfast porridge with it.

One of my other favorite ways to eat barley, however, is to make a hearty grain salad. This is a favorite in my household for a casual, yet delicious weeknight dinner and makes enough so we can have leftover for lunch the following day.

I decided on a Nordic-style grain salad this week and played around with some of the produce that is coming up now that we’re entering autumn and a new season.

This salad celebrates many familiar and beloved seasonal fall ingredients, such as delicata squash, beets, apples, and dark greens like kale. It’s super filling and exciting, with different flavors, textures and colors.

The meal is completed with a delicious scallion-dill vinaigrette to drum those Nordic flavors through. This will be a repeat dressing in my house!

Play around with switching up this dish and add in some roasted wild mushrooms or other root vegetables like parsnips, celery root and pear in place of apples. So delicious!

If using pear, I’d try topping the salad with vegan blue cheese instead of the goat cheese I have in today’s recipe or you could also do a feta cheese. Pomegranate seeds are also a colorful addition as a topping.

How To Cook Barley

First, rinse the barley. Cook barley like you cook pasta- in lots of water (lightly salted), then drain after 20-25 minutes. The grains should still have some resistance (not crunchy, but chewy). Toss with a little of the vinaigrette you are making for the salad. I like having an acidic-heavy dressing as it helps brighten up the flavors.

Additional Tips:

When picking beets, make sure to pick small or medium-sized beets preferably with the beet greens attached. They should be hard to the touch not soft. Don’t throw away the greens but use them in stir-fries, make pesto from them or throw them into pasta dishes and soups.

In addition to the barley, I like to add some beans. Butter beans or broad beans would be the most fitting in a Nordic barley salad, but feel free to use any beans you prefer, like kidney beans, cannellini or chickpeas.

Butter beans have a mild and creamy taste with a slight earthiness that compliments the barley beautifully.

Finally, delicata squash is my favorite winter squash to add into salad for a variety of reasons. It has a nutty, sweet and earthy flavor and the skin is thin enough you don’t have to peel it! Just wash the outside really well before you halve it and scoop out the seeds before slicing. Also great on flatbreads and pizza!

Wine Pairing Recommendation

Not to say a red wine would be a bad pick, but the ingredients in this salad begs for a white wine. Beets, dill, delicata squash, white beans and the bright acidity of the dressing are particularly friendly to white wines such as a crisp Riesling, Chablis (Chardonnay), Sauvignon Blanc, or a Chenin Blanc.

I picked the latter and took the opportunity to open up the stunning 2020 David & Nadia Chenin Blanc from Swartland, South Africa.

David & Nadia is a family-owned winery focusing on a spectrum of organic, old and dryland bush vine vineyards from different areas and soil types throughout the Swartland.

This is a wine of incredible depth, due to the old vines and although not as complex as their single-vineyard Chenin Blancs (a must-try!), it’s an exemplary representation of the gorgeous wines they produce. Lots of ripe apricot and peach flavors and blended masterfully with crisp acidity and a striking minerality throughout.

The 2020 Chenin Blanc is a blend of fruit from eight of their vineyards, and the grapes are whole-bunch-pressed and naturally fermented, matured for 11 months in old neutral French oak barrels.

Beautiful texture and well integrated – delicious to drink now but the structure of it promises even more enjoyment in the years to come.

I highly recommend trying out wines from South Africa if they are not already on your radar. Both red and whites are magnificent, and I’m secretly dreaming of visiting the region soon!

Nordic Barley Salad with a Scallion-Dill Vinaigrette
(Byggsalat)

For the salad:
1 cup (200 grams) pearl barley, rinsed
1 x 15 oz (425 grams) can butter beans or broad beans, rinsed and drained *
2 small or 1 medium delicata squash, halved and sliced into half moons
3-4 thyme sprigs
1 medium red beet, roasted, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow beet, roasted, peeled and diced
1 crisp apple, like honey crisp or Granny Smith
½ large bunch lacinato kale, ribs removed and thinly sliced
Couple of handfuls fresh dill, chopped plus more for garnish
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
⅓ cup (40 grams) hazelnuts, toasted and chopped**
Pickled red onions for garnish
½ cup (125 grams) vegan goat cheese

*sub any beans of your choice, you can also cook your own beans from scratch

** Toasted pumpkin seeds are great too if you want to avoid nuts

For the vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Juice of ½ lemon
1 small garlic clove, grated
1-2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons good quality extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch scallions, sliced finely (white and light green parts only) divided
Salt, pepper to taste

To make the vinaigrette:

Combine all ingredients (only half the scallions, reserve the rest for topping on the salad) in a bowl and whisk together, season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.

To make the salad:

First, preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Cut off the greens from the beets (if attached), rinse, and scrub them, and place them in a large sheet of foil, drizzle with a little olive oil and kosher or sea salt, and wrap loosely.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour until a knife or cake tester pierces easily through the middle. Let cool slightly before peeling and dicing them.

Place the delicata squash on a sheet try and drizzle with a little olive oil and kosher salt and a few thyme sprigs, and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning them half way through. Set aside to cool slightly.

Second, cook the barley in about 2 quarts of water with 1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt. Follow the package directions, but the cooking time for pearled barley should take 20-25 minutes. Drain and add into a large mixing bowl.

Massage the kale with your hands and a drop of olive oil to remove some bitterness, then slice the leaves thinly and add them to the bowl with the barley, along with the butter beans. Season with salt and pepper, pour in half the dressing and toss with tongs to combine.

Add in the diced beets, roasted squash, apples, and parsley and with a large spoon, carefully toss to combine. Drizzle in the remainder of the dressing, top with pickled red onions, goat cheese, toasted hazelnuts, the remaining scallions and a few sprigs of fresh dill.

Serve with your favorite glass of wine.

Salad will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Remove from fridge at least ½ hour before serving to let it come to room temperature.

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