Need some fiber in your diet?

While I haven't mentioned it yet on the blog, I co-lead a group of local women who all want to eat healthy.  I love this group, and have a lot of fun with my co-leader, Thea Sheldon.  Thea is a life coach, and one of my favorite friends.  I've set up a link so you can see her website at Prime of Life Coaching.  We all enjoy the camaraderie of the group, and we meet once a week to discuss a different topic.  Tomorrow we will talk about the importance of fiber in your diet.  SO, in preparation for the big demo tomorrow,  I decided to create a salad using high fiber foods, which most people think is dry and bland. Well, not THIS salad.   

I started out roasting brussels sprouts with some garlic cloves.  If you have never tried them and you think you don't like brussels sprouts, please do.  It's like vegetable candy!  I cut the sprouts in half and peeled and smashed some garlic cloves. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over all and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about half an hour, or until they are brown and caramelized.  Remove from the oven and cool.  I also roasted a small butternut squash to add to the salad but didn't photograph it, as I imagine you've got the idea.

Finished roasted brussels sprouts, fresh out of the oven.

The basics of this salad is pearl barley and green mung beans.  These are not necessarily common, every day grains and beans, but definitely worth getting to know.

Chopped, roasted garlic and minced shallots for the dressing.

A shout out to my pal Lucy of California Sun Dry Tomatoes  www.calsundry.com - I love their products!

Ingredients assembled to make the dressing.

Finished dressing - Oh my goodness is this good!

Adding the Feta cheese to the salad.

The finished salad. 

 The Recipe

The salad

2 cups cooked pearl barley

2 cups cooked green mung beans

1 cup roasted brussels sprouts

1 cup roasted butternut squash

1 cup cooked edamame (soybeans)

1/2 cup diced sundried tomatoes

1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

The dressing

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice (use freshly squeezed, if you have a lemon on hand)

1 minced shallot

4 roasted garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Blend all dressing ingredients with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.  

Toss the dressing with all the salad ingredients, and serve either cold or at room temperature.

recipe copyright K. Cyriacks 2014