Warm Barley Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Warm toasted barley salad with blood orange vinaigrette and roast shrimp is an easy and elegant option for lunch or dinner.

I’ve been on a whole grain kick ever since making those sweet potato and quinoa fritters that I shared the other day. This weekend, I went a little nuts in the bulk bins of the local co-op. Our kitchen is now overflowing with barley, freekeh, amaranth, millet, bulgar, and whatever else happened to catch my eye. 

Since I don’t exactly have enough room in my cabinets to store everything I bought, I needed to use some right away. I toasted some of the barley and used it to make a warm salad with blood orange, avocado, feta, and roast shrimp – perfect for today’s shrimp showdown!

OXO and the NFI Shrimp Council invited several bloggers to participate in a Shrimp Showdown. They sent us each a selection of OXO products and challenged us to use at least 3 of them to prepare a show-stopping shrimp recipe. They also sent a bag of some of the most gorgeous shrimp I’ve ever seen outside of a restaurant – they were huge! (Keep reading to learn how you can win the same OXO tools I received, along with a $100 Visa giftcard so you can create your own recipe.)

I love OXO products in general, but I honestly don’t know how I survived to long without their Shrimp Cleaner. I stopped buying pre-cleaned shrimp a while back, when I realized how much cheaper it is to buy them with the shells still on. Until now, I used a paring knife to remove the shell and vein from my shrimp, which took forever and got pretty messy. This tool makes it so easy – once I got the hang of it, I prepped about a dozen shrimp in under 5 minutes. The package has some pretty good instructions, but you basically just shove the tool under the shell in one movement and let the teeth do the work. I’m grateful to never have to dig at a shrimp with my knife again.

I also used the Wooden Lemon Reamer to juice the a lemon and a blood orange to make the dressing and the Flexible Kitchen & Herb Snips to prepare the cilantro and parsley. (I also used the pair of 12″ Tongs with Silicone Heads to take my shrimp off the pan. I have a few pairs of these in various sizes and use them just about every time I cook.)

Warm Barley Salad with Roast Shrimp

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

• 1 cup pearl barley
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 pound jumbo or colossal shrimp (I used U/15), peeled and deveined
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 lemon
• 3 blood oranges, divided
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta

Instructions

1. Add the barley to a saucepan set over medium heat. Cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown and toasted. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400ºF. Arrange the shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet; drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with a generous pinch of kosher salt. Zest the lemon; sprinkle half the zest over the shrimp. Roast 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
3. White the shrimp and barley cook, prepare the dressing. Add the zest and juice one blood orange to a small mixing bowl. Add the reserved lemon zest, olive oil, green onions, honey, and coriander. Whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the cooked barley.
4. Peel and dice the two remaining blood oranges. Gently toss the barley with the orange pieces, avocado, onion, herbs, and feta. Top with cooked shrimp.

Nutrition Information

Amount Per Serving Calories 564 Total Fat 23.5g Fiber 14.9g Protein 30.6g