Egypt Barley Salad

I got this recipe from Jeff’s mom a while back because he had mentioned it more than once (meaning he really wanted this to eat) I changed it around to make it super healthy because Jeffrey has 240 cholesterol and I don’t mean the good kind. Which is probably why his head feels like it’s going to explode half the time but I digress!

Now pearl barley is known to lower diabetes and controls your appetite for weight loss but I came across on a study about cholesterol which made me think of Jeffrey and this is why I changed to Pearl Barley.

Study from Japan
A randomized double-blind study in Japan followed 44 men with high cholesterol for twelve weeks, as the men ate either a standard white-rice diet or one with a mixture of rice and high-beta-glucan pearl barley. Barley intake significantly reduced serum cholesterol and visceral fat, both accepted markers of cardiovascular risk. Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18074229

Egypt Barley Salad

2 cups Pearl barley
2 cups cherry tomatoes (slice in half)
1 zucchini slice in square bites
½ cup of feta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
⅓ cup white-wine vinegar
½ cups packed fresh basil leaves, rinsed and spun dry
¼ cup olive oil
Sea Salt and Pepper ( you be the judge on this)

Follow the directions of the package to cook the pearl barley. Drain the barley in a colander, rinse it under cold water, and drain it well.  In a frying pan put 2 tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the zucchini until a little brown. Slice your cherry tomatoes and place in a bowl where everything will be poured together. Once the zucchini is cool toss that into the bowl.

Chop your bushel of basil and toss that in to the bowl. Put the pearl barley and mix everything together then toss in the feta cheese, olive oil vinegar along with the salt and pepper. Give it a good toss again. I like to let it sit for an hour or so the taste will blend together.

And by the way taste your food as your cooking to figure out if you need a little more of something, like salt or pepper to bring out the taste of the ingredients. Jeff's mom never does and wonders why her dishes are bland. She only tastes her food at the end when it’s on her plate at the table. WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS!