Recipe Swap: Barley Chickpea Salad

I was a strange kid. I can remember birthday parties at Pizza Hut complete with all the pizza you could eat, pop you could drink, and throwing bags of pizza dough onto the pizza tins. I would always opt to hit the salad bar instead. I'd fill my salad plate with beets, spinach salad, and chickpeas. So chickpeas hold a special place in my heart - I've always loved them. 

When I received my swap recipe, I was so incredibly excited to received a couscous chickpea salad from Nicole of Cookies on a Friday. I'm new to her blog and already have so many recipes bookmarked to try in the future. Be sure to check her out! 

This salad was so quick to throw together and it's just beautiful and delicious. I used barley instead of couscous because it's what I had on hand. 

Thank you Nicole for the wonderful recipe, and as always, thank you to Sarah of Taste of Home Cooking for putting the swap together! 

Barley Chickpea Salad adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
 1/2 cup mayonnaise
 1/4 cup plain yogurt
 1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
 1 tablespoon butter
 1/2 cup barley
 1 cup water
 1 red onion, chopped
 1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup toasted and sliced almonds
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained

Directions

In a medium bowl, blend mayonaisse, yogurt, cumin, salt and pepper. Cover, and place in the refrigerator 1 hour, or until chilled.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Pour in barley and turn to coat. Stir in water, reduce heat, and a simmer, covered, until all water is absorbed, about 30 minutes.

 Mix barley, red onion, red bell pepper, parsley, raisins, almonds and chickpeas into the creamy salad dressing mixture. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator until serving.