Grilled Broccolini Salad and Barley

Serve up gorgeous bouquets of grilled broccolini on a bed of chewy barley, caramelised shallots and sweet dried cranberries. A grain and broccolini salad perfect for those cooler months or when you’re entertaining family and friends.

Why You’ll Love Grilled Broccolini Salad

You’ll love this grilled broccolini salad because broccolini is delicious! It is also a slightly different vegetable one would normally use in a salad. Always great to have a salad that doesn’t always have tomatoes, cucumbers or lettuce.

This grilled broccolini salad is also a grain salad which many people love. It is hearty and can be eaten as a main meal and shared with someone for lunch. This is a great way to use up any extra barley you may have in your pantry. Hard to finish a whole packet in a short period of time.

The presentation of the grilled broccolini is also a little bit of fun as you’re tying them into small bouquets with some scallion greens. Great for those festive feasts or a little fun way to encourage your kids to eat some greens.

What Is Broccolini?

If you have ever thought that broccolini is baby broccoli, you are not alone.

Broccolini is NOT immature broccoli. Broccolini is actually a hybrid vegetable that is a cross between broccoli and gai lan, which is also known as Chinese broccoli. I grew up with both, so I’m stoked someone was smart enough to marry the two!

The broccolini inherits its florets from the broccoli, although less compact and its stalks from the gai lan, which is crunchy and delightful. So delicious in our Broccolini Salad with Mushrooms as well.

Did you know you can also get purple broccolini? Try our Rustic Black Rice Salad with Purple Broccolini.

There are many ways to eat broccolini. You can shave them raw, steam, blanch, boil, roast and like this recipe, grilled. Grilled broccolini gives the vegetable lovely charred notes while still crunchy.

Where To Buy Broccolini?

Broccolini is now much more available than they ever used to be and available all year round. So you will be able to find them in your everyday supermarkets.

Can You Eat Broccolini Raw?

Yes, you can eat broccolini raw from the stems to the florets.

It is however not the most popular way of consuming the vegetable. It would be like eating broccoli raw, although you can, it’s not often practised. Perhaps shaving it or slicing it thinly for a broccolini salad would work.

Otherwise, a quick blanch to soften the stems and florets but not overcook them would be the closest you’d get to eating raw broccolini.

How To Cut Broccolini?

If the bottom of the broccolini stems looks fresh, you don’t have to cut broccolini at all. For this grilled broccolini recipe, we’re not cutting the vegetables in any way and enjoying them as they are.

But if you wish to, you can cut them lengthways, especially if the stems are particularly thick but wish to keep the length. You can cut them into 3 to make them more manageable for sauteing or stir fries. Cut the head of the floret and then in the stem into 2.

You can also cut them diagonally like you would asparagus. Suitable for steaming as you can then fit them into your steamer basket.

What is Pearl Barley?

Pearl barley is a refined grain that is harvested from the ears of barley. It is then polished or “pearled”, which means that the outer layer of the barley is removed, making it easier for cooking. A lightly pearled barley has a tan colour, while a well pearled barley is white.

The flavour of pearl barley is relatively neutral and doesn’t have any strong tastes. However, what we do like about it is its chewy texture and its ability to absorb all the flavours around it. So if you’re adding it to stews or soups, you can be sure they taste fantastic!

How To Cook Barley?

Cooking pearl barley is easy, especially when compared to its whole grain counterpart. Rinse the pearl barley before use to get rid of impurities. Just 1-part pearl barley to 3-4 parts water. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

I suggest stirring it occasionally, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom and watch the water level as sometimes it evaporates very quickly. Then drain, rinse and use as you need.

If you love salad recipes with grains, we also have Miso Glazed Purple Carrot Salad and Barley and Pomegranate, Barley and Freekeh Salad recipes.

You can also cook pearl barley in an Instant Pot. Put the barley in the water and cook on high pressure on either pressure cook or manual settings for 20 minutes.

Then let the Instant Pot naturally release for 15 minutes. The upside to using the Instant Pot is that you don’t have to watch the boiling barley or stir it.

Why Do You Have to Soak Barley?

If you’ve been told that all barley needs to be soaked overnight, it is not true.

Pearl barley does not have to be soaked overnight as much of the outer layer of the barley has been polished off. Therefore, they will cook tenderly quite easily. Hence my preference is always to buy pearl barley instead of any other kind of barley.

Pot barley, on the other hand, although slightly polished, still has most of the barley bran intact. Thus pot barley needs to be soaked overnight to soften the grain to allow it to cook easily. The ratio is 1:3 of grain to water.

Is Barley Healthier Than Rice?

One is not healthier than the other as a general comparison. It depends on what is important to you should you feel you need to decide between the 2. Besides, it also depends entirely on what rice you’re comparing it to. For this exercise, we’re referring to brown rice.

According to Beyond Celiac, barley contains gluten and is not suitable for consumption for those with Celiac Disease or who follow a gluten-free diet.

Food Struct break this down well. Barley has a lower glycemic index, almost 3 times more calories and is higher in carbohydrates but has natural fibres while rice doesn’t contain fibres. They both have negligible fat content while barley has more protein.

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: This grilled broccolini salad relies on its ingredients for flavours as it is a no dressing salad recipe. Just a splash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice will suffice.

The grilled broccolini is cooked to perfection as they are left intact from the stem to the florets. Grilling them helps to retain the crunch while giving it some char and smokey flavours.

The barley is soft and tender, while the pistachios offer nutty flavours and slight crunch, while the dried cranberries are soft and chewy with sweet and tart flavours.

Ease: This grilled broccolini salad requires a little bit of cooking, although it’s not complicated. Just adding barley to a pot of water and grilling the broccolini on a grill pan. The rest is easy to assemble.

Time: The pearl barley takes 30 minutes to cook, but while that is happening, you can grill the broccolini and prepare the rest of the salad. There is no dressing for this salad, so it’s one less step.

Ingredients

These are the ingredients you need for Grilled Broccolini Salad and Barley.

Broccolini: Get fresh and good quality broccolini. Make sure the stems aren’t wrinkled, and the florets aren’t browning or turning yellow. The leaves on the broccolini shouldn’t be wilted either.

Scallion stalks: We will need this for tossing through the salad and tying the grilled broccolini into bouquets.

Pearl barley: Pearl barley can keep for up to 3 months, so you have plenty of time to use the remaining leftovers. You will be able to find this in the dry goods or grain section of your supermarket. Make sure you get the pearl barley and not the pot barley.

Variations and Substitutions

Presentation of broccolini: Tying the grilled broccolini is, of course, not necessary but just a bit of fun in how a salad can be presented, especially if you’re entertaining—gorgeous little bundles of delicious vegetables.

Dried cranberries alternative: You can use any dried berries for this recipe. If you are worried about sugar content, try the unsweetened dried cranberries.

Type of barley: Any barley will do if you can’t find pearl barley specifically. You may need to soak it overnight and adjust cooking time pending on the type of barley you can get. You can also adjust cooking time if you like your barley al dente and still quite chewy.

Shallot alternative: You can caramelise onions if shallots are proving to be an expensive option.

Pistachio substitute: Pistachios offer not only great flavours but also the crunch that’s needed for this salad. They can also be an expensive add on so you can use sunflower or pumpkin seeds instead.

Instructions

Step by step instructions for how to make Grilled Broccolini Salad and Barley.

Rinse pearl barley before use to get rid of any dirt or impurities.

In a medium sized saucepan, add ¾ cup of uncooked barley and cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for 30 minutes, stirring it occasionally. Watch the water level and add more if it evaporates too quickly. When cooked, drain, run under cold water and set aside to dry.

In a large sized mixing bowl, add broccolini, 2 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. In a grill pan on medium heat, grill broccolini for 8-10 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Remove the skin of the shallots. Slice very thinly. In a small frypan, add 1 tbsp of olive and fry shallots until golden brown. Remove and set aside.

Chop pistachio kernels.

Chop the green leaf of 1 scallion finely.

For the other 4 stalks, cut off the bulb. We only need the green leaves.

How to Assemble Salad

When the grilled broccolini has cooled, time to make 4 bouquets. Lay one scallion leaf horizontally. Place 4 grilled broccolini on top in a bunch.

Using the leaf, tie the grilled broccolini together to resemble a small bouquet. Repeat 3 more times.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the barley, caramelised shallots, ½ chopped pistachio, ½ chopped scallions and dried cranberries. Then add 1 tbsp of olive oil, juice of ½ lemon, salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly until well combined.

On a large serving platter, place the barley salad.

Then add the 4 bouquets of grilled broccolini on top.

Sprinkle the rest of the chopped pistachios and scallion on top.

Serve.

Great Mains for This Salad

What to serve with Grilled Broccolini Salad? Try these delicious main dish recipes.

Flavoured with a homemade seasoning salt, this Cornish game hens is moist and delicious. For those extra special dinner parties or perhaps you’re celebrating something special, you can’t go past some pan seared duck breast.

For a vegetarian meal on those cold winter nights, a good old fashion creamy pumpkin potato soup is in order!

Frequently Asked Questions

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This grilled broccolini salad is incredibly hearty and would make for a great lunch that you can pack up for work or have on its own.

This is also a fantastic option if you’re looking for dairy free salad recipes or egg free salad recipes.

At the same time, the lovely bouquets and gorgeous colours are also great for festive celebrations and would make a great addition to your Christmas table. Whatever the occasion or if you simply have a craving, this salad will serve you well!

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