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
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 562kcal Calories from fat 217 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 24g | 37% |
| Saturated Fat 5g | 25% |
| Transfat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 157mg | 52% |
| Sodium 998mg | 42% |
| Carbohydrate 61g | 20% |
| Dietary Fiber 15g | 60% |
| Sugars 14g | |
| Protein 29g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
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I read this paragraph completely about the resemblance of hottest and earlier technologies, it’s remarkable
article.
I’m trying really, really hard to think if I’ve ever cooked barley before. Adding this to my bucket list since I don’t think I have (plus I love blood oranges and shrimp).
So many amazing flavors! I’d love to try this with quinoa to make it gluten free!
What a gorgeous presentation! Love the idea of roasting shrimp.
You made a beautiful dish! I love barley and your dressing sounds amazing! Pinning this wonderful recipe 🙂
Lauren, this looks like a salad I would LOVE…not only are the shrimp beautiful, but that dressing sounds soooo good.
What a gorgeous recipe; I wonder if I could get away with making it with a navel orange (I haven’t seen any blood oranges for awhile); or would that defeat the point of the flavor combination?
I think regular oranges might be a little blah. How about grapefruit? I bet ruby red would be nice, since it has a similar sweet-tart flavor to blood oranges (plus that bright pop of color!)
G’day! I love shrimp called prawns here! Your salad looks delicious! I want to try it right now!
Cheers! Joanne
Like you, I’ve been on a whole grain kick as I was mostly consuming wheat (products) and corn (products). I love this salad, and the plate you’ve chosen is gorgeous!
Blood oranges are so good right now. Juicy and delicious. What a wonderful salad. Yum.
Blood orange vinaigrette – sounds amazing! And a perfect pairing to the shrimp.
I love every. last. ingredient. like….a lot! Making soon!!
I’ve been on the whole grains kick lately too. I haven’t toasted my barley before…now I’m going to. This dish looks great.
This looks delicious. I found you stumbling.
Love these type of salads, they are my favorite!
Your barley salad looks like the perfect canvas for this gorgeous roast shrimp! What a yummy dish!!!
This salad looks perfect! I’ve never cooked with pearl barley, but I’m going to have to make this one!
I love a barley salad and this looks great!!!
I love shrimp!! This dish looks wonderful and that dressing is perfect too!
I agree – that shrimp cleaner is AMAZING! Once you get the hang of it, you can clean a ton of shrimp so quickly! And, lady? Shrimp + Blood Oranges? A love letter right to my heart.
This is such a gorgeous salad! I love everything about it…the barley, blood orang and that roasted shrimp! This would be such a healthy and complete meal! Pinning!
How good does this salad look! I’m a sucker for anything with shrimp.