A little refreshing bite to fight the insane freezing cold. This salad is simple but super tasty with bursts of fresh dill and lemon and crunchy, salty prosciutto. You can sub quinoa for the barley or really any other grain if you like, but adding the grains really bulks up the salad and breaks up the grassy quality of the kale. To that end, if you’re a kale hater (!), you can use other greens, too. Hope this vitamin infusion will brighten you up.
2 decent sized servings or 3-4 small ones
4 cups chopped kale
½ cup barley
1 bay leaf
½ tsp fresh or dried thyme
2 tsp chopped fresh dill
3-4 slices prosciutto
1 scallion, sliced thin
Small cucumber, sliced thin
2 TBS white wine vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
lemon juice to taste
salt/pepper to taste
grated Pecorino cheese to taste
- In a small saucepan, combine barley with 1 ½ - 2 cups water, pinch of salt and bay leaf. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer until liquid is absorbed and barley is tender. (If you have excess water after desired consistency is reached, drain off the water). Add 1 teaspoon of chopped dill, additional salt to taste and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. Place in fridge to chill.
- Heat a skillet to medium high heat then, add slices of prosciutto. Turn to brown on both sides and remove from pan to cool and crisp up. Set aside.
- Clean and dry kale and place in mixing bowl. Add sliced scallion, cucumber and remaining chopped dill to bowl. Mix vinaigrette in a separate bowl or measuring cup. Adjust oil/vinegar ratio to taste and salt well. Slowly add vinaigrette to kale, mixing salad after each addition. Taste along the way since you may prefer for more or less vinaigrette. To make more vinaigrette, follow this simple ratio of 2:1, oil:vinegar.
- Remove chilled barley from fridge. Mix and taste. Adjust seasoning and add to veggie mixture.
- Chop cooled and crisped prosciutto. Add half to salad and mix through and top the salad with the rest.
Enjoy!
MJM 
