pearl barley, feta and spinach salad

It's been just under a week since I was last in the office but it already seems like it was a lifetime ago.

I have completely lost all sense of time. Events that I think happened weeks ago only took place the day before. My mother says this is because it normally takes a couple of months for us to see my brother as much as we have done in the last 10 days (which it no doubt is) but it's also a consequence of the Olympic bubble that I've been living in. I ventured to Oxford Street yesterday afternoon to do a bit of shopping and I was slightly stunned to discover that there was a world outside of the Olympic Park and my sofa.

I find this dislocation happens with plane journeys as well. I sat at work the morning after I got back from France and found it inconceivable that I'd been on holiday just 12 hours earlier. There's something about getting on a plane for a couple of hours, cut off from the rest of the world, that makes every hour seem like a week.

This salad really has not got anything to do with planes. It's just that the only thing that I'm thinking about when I'm not thinking about the Olympics is the fact that we will be getting on a plane in just 5 days time. Everything in my life, therefore, has to relate to one of the two.  

So, back in those distant days when I was still going into the office every day, a version of this was my lunch for about two weeks straight. For some reason, being at work makes me so incredibly hungry even though I spend most of my day just sat at my desk. There's only so long that you can rely on Pret a Manger or Starbucks for lunch before you feel slightly sick of all the options and before you are financially crippled. Bitter experience has also taught me that I need a healthy dose of carbs at lunch or I turn uncharacteristically grumpy.

This salad has a base of pearl barley and baby spinach that satisfies my hunger and keeps me going until hometime without an emergency trip tot he vending machine. There's a crunch and brightness from the red onion (I like it raw but feel free to cook it if you prefer) and a creaminess from the feta. The dressing is simply olive oil and lemon. It makes a great side dish, especially to grilled lamb or chicken, or you can bulk it out with whatever leftover vegetables that you have on hand to make a more complete dish.

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Pearl barley, spinach and feta salad

Yield: Serves 8 (or more as a side)

Ingredients

• 250g (2 cups) pearl barley
• 80g (3 cups) fresh baby spinach, washed and drained
• 200g (1 cup) feta
• 1 red onion
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

1. Cook the pearl barley as per the instructions (mine took about 30 mins in a pan of simmering water)
2. When cooked, drain the pearl barley and allow it to cool slightly.
3. While cooling, roughly chop the spinach and finely dice the red onion.
4. Put the pearl barley, spinach and red onion in a large serving bowl. Crumble over half the feta, add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and mix well to combine. Sprinkle the rest of the feta on top.