Mediterranean Barley with Tofu, Olives, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Capers

Kelly Rossiter Photo
Kelly Rossiter

Difficulty Level: Easy

I just finished reading Marcella Hazen's memoir Amarcord and she says that the hardest thing about writing her original cookbook The Classic Italian Cookbook was figuring out the amounts for the ingredients she used and then translating that into a recipe. She's an intuitive cook and she never bothered with recipes. She never handed out recipes to the students in her cooking classes because she felt that they would follow the recipe rather than following their taste.

Then I came upon a website that had a recipe that just listed the ingredients, without any measurements. I tried it last night for my dinner and it was delicious. Using the ingredient list as a stepping off point you can add or subtract to it as you like, and it doesn't get any easier. I didn't have any olives, but I had everything else and because I was eating alone, I could put in as many capers as I liked. I made extra barley, so I'm going to have it for lunch and I think I'll add some of my pickled green beans.

INGREDIENTS

barley, cooked
tofu, diced
small black olives
sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and finely chopped
capers in salt, soaked and drained of their excess salt
chili pepper, ground or in flakes
lemon juice
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

PREPARATION:

  1. Fry the tofu slowly in olive oil with chili pepper and lemon juice until crispy.
  2. Mix olives, capers and tomatoes with the barley and stir.
  3. Add tofu, mix and serve.

    From the website Lucullian Delights.

This recipe appears in: Vegetarian

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