This barley salad with orange, fennel & black olives is great both as a refreshing side dish or a light main for those hectic pre-holiday days. 

It happens almost every year, around the same time: before the holidays, just when the weather starts getting wintery and the lists of things to do a little longer, as the light each day fades a little earlier. It happens and I am now almost at peace with the almost bizarre combination of feeling at once exhausted and filled with energy. I find myself under the covers often before 11pm, barely able to read more than a page (even though I have this in hand and it is pure pleasure), yet most mornings I get up excitedly, well rested and impatient. There’s meals to plan and gifts to be considered (thought I wait till the 1st of December to do any holiday shopping), cards to be made and outfits to be put together for upcoming festivities. I love all of the above and that too, that weird and exhausting and exhilarating amalgam of  energy and slumber.

In that light, the meals I gravitate towards most these days are light and bright and flavourful- but mostly light. While I’m testing brownies with all the spices and chorizo popcorn for an upcoming project, the last thing I crave is a heavy meal. While I’m tasting chocolate with Cocoa Runners and trying different versions of cheesy mash, I long for some balance. And it often comes in the form of a very seasonal, very bright and colourful salad: it may be featuring bright and chunky squash or be filled with bold & bright winter colours, but almost always it strikes a balance between being utterly satisfying and filling, without being too heavy or too much.

This barley salad with orange, fennel & black olives, today’s bright star, is all of the above: bright in beautiful yellows, oranges and greens thanks to crunchy chickpeas, juicy orange and fresh fennel, kale & spinach. The always so cool fennel is nicely balanced by the warm saltiness of the olives and the barley is the perfect canvas for them all: sturdy and filling but quite muted as well, it holds everything together, along with delicious extra virgin olive oil, a good pinch of salt, a very generous squeeze of orange and a hint of lemon juice too.

Breath in, breath out. ‘Tis the season.

Barley salad with orange, fennel & black olives

WHAT

1 cup barley

1 can chickpeas

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

sea salt flakes & freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground garam masala

1 fennel, washed and thinly sliced (harder parts removed)

1 orange, halved

2-3 big handfuls fresh baby spinach or steamed kale, or a combination of the two

zest of 1/3 lemon

sea salt flakes & freshly ground black pepper to finish off

10-12 black olives, pitted and sliced (or left whole) 

HOW

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (180ºC FAN).
2. To cook the barely, rinse very well under cold water and place in a small pan along with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10′. Then turn down the heat to low and cook for about 30′, or until soft but not mushy.
3. Rinse the chickpeas and combine with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the salt, pepper and garam masala and place on a large baking tray.
4. Roast in the preheated oven for about 20′. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
5. Place the cooked barley on a large serving plate or bowl and top with the crunchy chickpeas, sliced fennel, half of the orange and greens.
6. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the juice of 1/2 orange and 1/3 lemon and drizzle over the salad. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste, add the sliced (or whole) olives and toss very gently to combine just before serving.