Here is a fresh and delicious dish: seafood salad with barley. A light, colorful, and tasty dish, perfect for spring and summer…
Seafood salad with barley is easy and flavorful, also great for a buffet or outdoor lunch.
I used cuttlefish, calamari, octopus, and shrimp… you can add mussels and clams if you like.
To make it even fresher, I added arugula and cherry tomatoes. A few black olives and I must say everyone liked it.
I used barley, but you can also use farro or rice.
The marination of the seafood adds that touch of acidity that gives freshness to the whole dish. From a barley salad, we seek freshness and lightness but do not want to give up authentic flavor.
This recipe is perfect for us! Let’s get to the stove; a tip is to make it ahead of time so the flavors meld.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
- Energy 332.36 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 41.25 (g) of which sugars 4.83 (g)
- Proteins 25.54 (g)
- Fat 10.81 (g) of which saturated 1.81 (g)of which unsaturated 1.52 (g)
- Fibers 7.78 (g)
- Sodium 816.49 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 180 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for the Seafood Salad with Barley
- 1 octopus (400 cooked weight)
- 1 small cuttlefish
- 2 calamari
- 8 shrimp
- 150 g cherry tomatoes
- as needed arugula
- as needed Gaeta olives (optional black)
- lemon
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- 300 g pearled barley
- salt
- pepper
Tools
- 3 Pots
Steps for the Seafood Salad with Barley
Clean the fish: remove the beak, eyes, and impurities from the octopus head, separate the heads from the sacs of the calamari and cuttlefish, then remove the innards, eyes, and beak, rinse thoroughly under running water.
As for the shrimp, remove their intestinal vein.
Then start by boiling the octopus in plenty of boiling, unsalted water, along with a carrot cut in half, a bay leaf, and a few peppercorns.
Make it curl by lowering and lifting it from the water two or three times, then let it cook for 40 minutes on low heat.
After this time, let it rest in its cooking water, off the heat, for at least 20 minutes, then drain it and let it cool completely.
Transfer the cooled octopus to a cutting board and chop it into coarse pieces.
In another pot of boiling water, add a bay leaf and some peppercorns. Once boiling, first boil the shrimp for about 5 minutes, then drain them.
In the same water, cook the calamari and finally the cuttlefish, which should cook for about 10-15 minutes.
Once cooled, cut them into pieces.
Put extra virgin olive oil in a bowl, add freshly chopped parsley, and mix in the chopped seafood and shrimp.
Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and finely chopped garlic to taste.
Let the seafood salad rest in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for about half an hour to an hour.
In the meantime, prepare the pitted Taggiasca olives and cut the cherry tomatoes, washing and drying the arugula.
Take the pearled barley, wash and dry it.
Cook it in a pot for about 20 minutes, adding salt, and then drain it under cold water.
(Cooking time may vary, check the package.)
Combine the cooked barley with the seafood salad, cherry tomatoes, olives, and chopped arugula, and plate it.
Mix very well, taste, and add a sprinkle of pepper if needed.
Enjoy your meal.
Tips
Suggestion: Proceed with cleaning the octopus: the most important thing is that the octopus is well-cleaned and tenderized so that after cooking, it is tender.
If the octopus you purchased has not undergone these treatments, you can do it yourself as follows: open the sac laterally and empty it completely, with a sharp knife cut away the eye section, then also remove the beak located between the tentacles. After this, beat the tentacles with a pestle to break the fibers and soften them, then wash the octopus well under running water to remove any sand residues.
Ideally, it should be kept cool in the fridge for a few hours.
Serve the salad at room temperature.
If you enjoyed this recipe, click on many stars, thank you very much.
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