Eating the Bar

I think it will be helpful throughout this process to keep in mind the sage words of the stranger from one of the greatest movies ever made:

Sometimes, you eat the bar. And, well, sometimes, he eats you.

In the spirit of the former, I present the salad I served at last night's barbeque. As a bonus, there are several steps which can be spread out while studying and used as "rewards" to get you through some chunks of work:

Spicy Turmerik Barley Salad

1. 1 lb pearled barley. Soak for several hours 'til tender. Drain.

2. Mix dressing ingredients (listed below) and pour over barley. Allow to soak an hour or so.

1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 C apple vinegar
scant white sugar
1 T black pepper
1-2 T turmeric (I was on the phone and I thought I was using cumin, so the recipe took a completely different turn, but it was a good one.)
dash of oregano

3. Toss barley and dressing into a sautee pan. Bring liquid to a boil and briefly stir barley until liquid is evaporated down. Allow to cool/chill.

4. In a food processor, chop the following on pulse until they are in small colorful chunks. Mix into barley. Chill and serve.

2 cucumbers (their own food processor cycle)
5 medium round tomatoes (I used orange, they were pretty, they got their own cycle and became fairly liquified, but it was fine.)
1/2 red onion (I combined these last 5 ingredients in the last cycle)
2 jalapeños (the other mistake, I was shooting for 1 but was mid-conversation and had a helpful sous-chef who just kept chopping)
3-4 cloves garlic
1/4 bunch parsely w/stalks
2 times around the food processor with EVOO.