This bright and beautiful bowl is packed with intense flavour and crunchy bits along with the chewy barley combined alongside pickled radish & ginger.

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup miso paste
• 4 tsp honey
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp wasabi paste
• 2 tsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup minced cilantro (use the stems!)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and give it a good whiz until it is bright and creamy.

Gather all the dressing ingredients together and it will take just a few minutes to combine.

Use the stems of the cilantro, that is where the most flavour is – mince it first before blending.

Bright, fresh, green – this dressing is a flavour packed bomb.  I’m sure it would be great on anything as well as this bowl …. I’m going to put it to use in whatever way I can find.

Pickled Radish:

• 6-8 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Slice radishes, and sprinkle with salt and sugar, then pour the rice vinegar over.  Allow the radishes to sit for at least 10 minutes.

Barley:

• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 1 1/2 cups pearl barley

Bring water, miso and stock to a boil, then add the barley.  Bring to a slow gentle boil and allow barley to cook until just tender – about 25-30 minutes.  Rinse under cool water and allow to drain.

This recipe was inspired by Whitewater Cooks, and her Beautiful BC Bowl with salmon ….but you can do whatever you like with it.

YOUR BOWL:

If you are cooking a protein, marinade in some of the dressing, and then grill until cooked.  Grilling is by far the best – the honey will stick to any fry pan you use!

This is as customizable as your fridge!  Use what you’ve got – tonight we had leftover flank steak so that made our protein, but honestly without a protein you will enjoy this just as much.

Assemble bowl with the barley, protein of choice and an assortment of toppings.  Tonight we used:

• roasted peanuts
• roasted sesame seeds
• avocado
• sliced snow peas
• halved cucumber slices
• slivered green onions
• sautéed mushrooms
• sautéed red onions & sweet peppers
• cilantro, roughly chopped
• nori sheets – roasted lightly and slivered

Everything about this bowl is a delight!  Customize it to your tastes.